Let Me Be There
by LunaPrinBeauty
Summary: "I'm not afraid," she whispered. He looked away, a pained expression on his face before looking back into her teal eyes he loved so much. "You should be. I'm nothing, but a monster a-" But a soft finger pressed against his lips silenced him. "That's weird because I don't see a monster. I only see you and you're the furthest thing from a monster in my eyes."
1. Chapter 1: Charms and Quidditch

.

* * *

**Chapter One**

**Charms and Quidditch**

"There you are. Don't you know we have Charms soon?" Marlene McKinnon remarked, running her fingers through her thick dark blonde hair and fixing her hazel eyes on brunette kneeling in front of her, holding out a handful of insects towards what appeared to be a baby Hippogriff with Stormy Grey feathers. The creature regarded Eve warily with its orange eyes before stretching its neck forward and plucking the dead insects from her hand with his tiny beak and chomping down on them loudly.

"There we go," Eve said softly before standing up and brushing the grass and dirt stains from her robes and straightening her yellow and black tie. She then turned her teal eyes towards Marlene and blinked, as if just realizing her friend was there. "How long have you been standing there, Lene?" Eve asked the Slytherin while shouldering her book bag.

Marlene rolled her eyes. "I swear, it's like you go into a completely different world when you're around creatures." She peered around Eve and at the young Hippogriff, who screeched warningly at Marlene.

"You have to bow to them first, remember?" Eve reminded her. Marlene looked like she wanted to roll her eyes, but turned to bow very low to the baby Hippogriff.

"Keep eye contact as well," Eve whispered. After a few moments of regarding Marlene suspiciously, the tiny Hippogriff bent his knees and bowed.

Eve looked like she would have rather stayed with the Hippogriff all day than go to class, but Marlene managed to successfully drag her away. "So did Hagrid name it yet?" she asked as they walked up the hill towards the castle.

"Buckbeak," Eve answered, glancing back at the baby Hippogriff and wanting to spend more time with him.

Marlene snorted. "Buckbeak? What kind of ridiculous name is that? That's like naming your owl Screechtalon."

Eve felt her cheeks becoming warm. She thought it best not to tell her best friend that she'd once considered naming her owl exactly that before having settled on Freya, inspired by a book she read about Norse Mythology. The rest of their conversation during their walk to Charms consisted of Quidditch talk and the fact that Hufflepuff would end up gaining a new Beater and Seeker since the previous two had graduated last year. Eve, herself, couldn't wait to be back out on the Quidditch field and putting her Keeper skills to the test.

* * *

Eve had been excited to start learning nonverbal spells, especially after seeing her parents and other family members perform them every day. They had made it look so easy, however, the sixteen-year-old Hufflepuff had learned that it was anything but. Only a few other students had managed to succeed on the first try, including Gryffindors Lily Evans and Remus Lupin. Then again, they were considered the brightest in their year, so it came of no surprise that they would be able to master it very quickly. Even Remus' two best friends, James Potter and Sirius Black had managed to non-verbally cast Reducto on the set of brass scales in front of them after their fifth attempts.

The Hufflepuff watched Remus as he helped his other friend, Peter Pettigrew who also seemed to be struggling. A light smile played at her lips at Remus' willingness to help others. She often teased that he would make a really good Hufflepuff or even a Ravenclaw with how smart he was. But she knew that he was a true Gryffindor through and through. Not taking her eyes off of him, she flicked her wand, which created a hole in the table about the size of a golf ball and narrowly missing Marlene's hand who was sitting beside her.

"Hey, watch it!" Marlene hissed. "You almost bloody well took my hand off!" In previous years, Eve normally would have had this class with only the Ravenclaws. But as N.E.W.T. classes had begun, many Houses had begun attending various lessons together that they hadn't previously.

Eve grinned sheepishly and muttered the incantation to repair the desk. "But I didn't, did I?" She gave her friend an apologetic smile before looking back across the room at a certain light-haired wizard.

Marlene scowled at the absent-minded Hufflepuff before following the brunette's gaze, her lips curling into a knowing smile.

"Oi, Lupin!" the blonde Slytherin called, smirking in the Gryffindor's direction.

Remus looked up at Marlene questioningly. Eve tugged hard on Marlene's robes. "What're you doing?" she hissed her cheeks a bright shade of red.

"Helping you out," Marlene whispered, then called out to Remus again. "Eve needs help with her nonverbal practice! Think you could lend her a hand?"

Remus' eyebrows furrowed and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I'm kind of helping Wormtail here." He inclined his head towards Peter.

Marlene leaned over to mutter in Eve's ear out of the corner of her mouth. "I will never get used to their ridiculous nicknames." To Remus, she spoke more loudly. "Eh, that's all right! I have a pretty good grasp of it. I can help out...Wormtail." She grimaced at the name. "What do you say? Besides, she's less liable to almost blow your hand off with you beside her.

"That was an accident!" Eve cried indignantly a little louder than she meant to, which caused Professor Flitwick to clear his throat.

"Not so loud, Miss Gamp. Other students are trying to concentrate and I suggest you do the same." Eve's cheeks flushed at the scolding and a few Slytherins snickered in her direction, including Mulciber and Avery. James and Sirius glared at them before giving their friend a light nudge.

"Go for it, mate," James encouraged. "You were saying a few days ago that you hadn't seen her all summer. This is your chance to catch up."

"Or if you two would rather catch up in a more private setting, we won't judge. I'd be more than happy to give you some pointers." Sirius waggled his eyebrows and earning a snorting laugh from James.

"Come off it, you two," Remus muttered, his normally pale face slightly pinkened. Still, he got up just the same and walked across the room to sit down next to Eve just as Marlene crossed over to the other side to go help Peter. He flopped down next to her. "Sorry about those two. They're right gits sometimes."

Her cheeks were still red, but she managed a cheerful smile. "Only Sirius would suggest something like snogging as a way of 'catching up'." She made air quotes. "Isn't it awkward whenever you catch him in the broom cupboard with a random girl during your prefect rounds?"

"You kind of get used to it after a while," Remus answered while picking up his wand. "I think he does it as a way to rebel against his family. You know, with them being fanatical about keeping the bloodlines as pure as possible, which is why he usually tends to snog Half-bloods and Muggle-borns."

Eve nodded, able to sympathize with Sirius, being a pure-blood herself and her parents wanting to keep the family that way for as long as possible. But unlike the Black family, sans Sirius, who was completely bigoted against witches and wizards of mixed or Muggle parentage, her own family welcomed them with open arms. Case in point, her mother was best friends with Remus' mother, who was a Muggle and the two of them got together whenever possible.

"There is probably another way to get your point across to your family other than snogging random girls in a broom cupboard," Eve said, twirling her Cedar wand in her hand.

"True, but the thing is, Padfoot would probably snog me if I was the opposite sex. He's mentioned a few times that I'd make a really good looking girl."

Eve chuckled. "I bet you'd also have great legs like a girl too," she teased. "But I think you're perfect just the way you are."

Remus seemed to become tongue-tied at that moment as his already pink cheeks turned a much deeper shade of red. To Eve, it looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he cleared his throat and turned to the brass scales.

"Right, so...nonverbal magic. It's not too difficult…"

* * *

That afternoon after class, Eve had changed into her Quidditch gear, grabbed her Cleansweep Six and headed out onto the Quidditch Field where her other teammates had gathered, along with a few other students who had shown up to try out for the team.

"Eve!" exclaimed fifth-year Chaser, Olivia MacMillan, as she enveloped the brown-haired witch into a hug. "How was your summer?"

"It was all right." Eve tightly hugged the blonde witch. "What about you?"

Olivia let out a groan. "Ugh, it was so boring! I spent the entire time with my grandparents in the country! I thought the summer holiday was all about sleeping in late, but they'd get up at the crack of dawn and have me up too! Insisted that they didn't want me to waste my day sleeping, even if it was just a few extra hours."

Eve patted Olivia on the shoulder and turned to talk to one of the other Chasers and the only other player that was in the same year as her, Christina Fawley. But before she could say anything, their Team Captain, Daniel Turner, blew his whistle, calling them to attention.

"How were everyone's summers?" he asked and was answered with a mixture of enthusiastic and not so enthusiastic reactions by those who had boring summers in their eyes. Like he always did, he began pacing back and forth in front of his team.

"He looks like a drill sergeant when he does that," Fourth-year Chaser, Sam Abbott whispered, earning chuckles from the rest of the team, including Eve.

If Daniel heard Sam he didn't say anything but continued to pace back and forth as he spoke. "As you all know, this is my very last year as Team Captain and I have to say, despite never winning the Quidditch Cup for Hufflepuff, I've never been prouder of all of you in my whole life. Throughout my years as Captain, you've all proven what it's like to work as a true team...to have each other's backs on the playing field and caring more about each other than about winning."

"Awww!" Eve, Christina, and Olivia sighed in unison while Sam made gagging noises and earning a glare from all three girls.

"Don't listen to him, Danny," Christina reassured the seventeen-year-old. "We're happy to have had you as our Captain as well."

"That's right! We won't let you down this year, either!" Olivia exclaimed with a huge grin.

"We'll do our very best!" If Eve wasn't pumped up before, she was now and couldn't wait to start practicing.

Even Sam finally relented from his teasing. "Yeah, mate. We'll do great this year!"

Daniel's eyes seemed to be glistening, but he was grinning from ear to ear. "Right, enough of this sappy business. Let's get to the tryouts!"

* * *

About eight people had shown up to try out for the team, including a first-year who thought he could sneak his way onto the team, using one of the school's brooms. As much as the five members of the team loved his enthusiasm, rules were rules and he was sent to the stands to watch after being reassured that he'd be able to try out next year.

Four out of the seven remaining people trying out proved to be slightly better than the rest. It turned out to be a tough decision, but in the end, the Fifth-year Edgar Bones and younger brother to another one of Eve's dorm mates, Amelia Bones, was appointed the second Beater. The other student they had considered was a fourth-year who had a more suitable build toward the position, but Edgar proved to be more precise with the bat. For their new Seeker, they had chosen a third-year named Beatrice Cadwallader, or Bee as she insisted on being called.

"All right! Now that we're a full team again, what do you say we get in some practice?" Daniel suggested, earning cheers from the rest of the team.


	2. Chapter 2: Intense Stares and Thestrals

.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

**Intense Stares and Thestrals**

Like a lot of students, Eve hated waking up early in the morning. If she had the choice, she wouldn't start her classes until after eleven at the earliest. But Friday was the one day out of the week when she was more than willing to put aside her complaints as it was the day she had her Care of Magical Creatures class.

On that morning, she sat up and gave herself a much-needed stretch after sleeping in awkward positions all night. Before she could begin to climb out of bed, a small weight in the form of her black Kneazle, Loki, began walking over her legs and giving the telltale meow of hunger as if to remind Eve that her first priority in the mornings was always him.

"I know. Food first." Eve laughed and scratched the feline's chin, earning a loud rumbling purr from him. After lightly nudging Loki off of her legs, she stood up and walked over to a large flower pot where a small baby tree was planted. Her eyes rested on one branch in particular, which seemed to be moving on its own and not from an enchantment placed on the plant.

"Morning, Karmanor!" Eve greeted the small branch, which wasn't a branch at all, but a small Bowtruckle. The tiny creature immediately hopped onto Eve's arm and allowed himself to be transferred onto the small table next to her four-poster bed. Eve had had Karmanor since her third year at Hogwarts, where she had found him during a trip into the forest with Professor Kettleburn and Hagrid. She had rescued him from accidentally being stepped on by a herd of centaurs, although he had been injured through other means before that. Still, he was very resilient, and after a few doses of healing potion, he became as good as new and also very attached to Eve, who had nursed him back to health.

After she had fed her two pets and was in the process of getting dressed, two out of the three other Hufflepuffs that she shared the dorm with began to wake up as well.

"Is it Friday already?" Amelia quipped between yawns as she leaned over to grab her wand from her side table and tapped her hair with it to make the strawberry blonde curls untangled and more flattering.

Christina grumbled a 'Good morning' as she shuffled around with her eyes half-closed. If there was anyone who didn't like most mornings more than Eve, it was her. As Eve straightened her tie in the mirror, she glanced over at Dorcas' sleeping form.

"Patrols ran late again?" she asked. Dorcas was one of the sixth-year prefects for Hufflepuff

Amelia smirked, twirling her fingers around her silky hair. "Oh no, they ended at the usual time. I came into the common room last night because I forgot my Charms essay, and she was wrapped around Greyson Romsey. They seemed to be into it too. Neither of them even looked up when I walked in."

Eve's eyebrows furrowed at the mention of Dorcas snogging the seventh year. "I thought she was dating that Galston bloke," she said, vaguely recalling the sixth year Ravenclaw.

Christina rolled her eyes and flicked her wand towards her trunk, summoning some clothes, and with another flick, dropped them onto her bed. "No, that was last week. You know she changes boyfriends like someone changes their knickers. Cat, I swear if you don't get off my clothes, I'll turn you into a roach!" she added scoldingly to Loki, who had jumped onto her bed and was now laying on her robes.

Eve waved her wand, levitating the black Kneazle upwards a few inches and floating him back towards her bed. He glared at Eve for a few seconds before starting to lick himself.

* * *

Around twenty minutes later, Eve had left ahead of her dorm mates, and skipped down the basement corridor towards the Great Hall, eager to eat a quick breakfast so that she could be the first one to class. Still, sometimes when Eve got too over-excited, she often failed to watch where she was going and ended up crashing into someone at almost full speed. Bags fell to the ground and textbooks spilt out of them.

"I'm so sorry; here let me help!" Eve pulled her wand from her robes to help the other person pick up their things more easily.

"Don't bother," the voice muttered, and Eve realised that she'd run into Snape. "Can't you watch where you're going?" He pushed his curtain of black hair from his face as he flicked his wand to put everything into his bag again and looked at Eve with an expression of disdain on his face. "I swear all of you Hufflepuffs have that same vacant look on your face like you don't have a brain between those two ears of yours."

Eve opened her mouth to say something, but someone else spoke first. "How about you leave her alone, Severus?" The Slytherin's glare seemed to soften, and Eve soon realised why when she turned around and saw Lily Evans standing there with her hands on her hips, her emerald eyes blazing fiercely.

"Lily, I—" Snape began, but Lily walked past him as if she didn't see him and grabbed Eve by the hand, pulling her into the Great Hall and leaving Snape standing there staring after the beautiful red-haired witch. Eve could feel the Gryffindor's hand tense in hers and glanced up at her worriedly.

It was Lily who spoke first. "He didn't do anything, did he?" she asked, looking back towards the place where they had left Snape.

Eve shook her head. "No, I just wasn't watching where I was going and ran into him. I was trying to help him pick up his books when you came along."

Lily smiled and reached over to brush some lint off of Eve's robes and straightened her yellow and black tie for her, which was something she had been doing ever since their first year at Hogwarts as Eve could never get it quite perfect, even with spells.

"Hey, Lily?" Eve asked, walking the redhead towards the Gryffindor table before going to where the rest of the Hufflepuffs sat. "Have you ever thought about forgiving Snape?"

The Gryffindor's green eyes narrowed as she looked at Eve. "It's not that easy. He's done some things that I just…" She ran her fingers through her tresses. "Things will never be the same between us."

Eve bit down on her bottom lip and put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I know that what he called you was horrible, but he was angry at the time. He must have regretted it afterwards. If he didn't, he wouldn't keep trying to talk to you. Don't you think you're being a little too hard?"

"It's not just about that! It's about what else he's done, Eve; it's the way he talks about Muggle-borns and half-bloods! It's how he just laughed it off when Mulciber attacked Mary last year! It's his obsession with the Dark Arts, with...with…" Her voice trailed off.

Eve could see that Lily's usually soft temper was about to flare up and knew that she had pried way too much. "I'm sorry," she said after a few moments. "I shouldn't have said anything."

Lily sighed and squeezed her hand. "You didn't do anything wrong. I know you'd give someone a hundred chances if it came to it. But you know, there is such a thing as being too trusting." Her eyes fell towards the Slytherin table to where Marlene was laughing at something the new Slytherin Quidditch Captain, Lucinda Talkalot, was saying.

"I'd trust Marlene with my life. She's one of the few Slytherins that embodies all of the House's good traits," Eve said, an overwhelming feeling of fierce loyalty coming over her when talking about her best friend.

Lily looked like she wanted to say something, but an arm around her shoulders made her stop. "Well, hello there, Evans...Gamp. Are you two busy fantasising about me?" James winked at them and ruffled his hair, but mostly his gaze was on Lily.

"Potter, I swear, if you don't stop, I'll turn you into a Bundimun," she growled, shoving the bespectacled Gryffindor's arm off of her, which made Eve giggle. Even as early as their third year, James was always doing things to get Lily to notice him, although she didn't appear too impressed with the trouble he and his friends caused.

Sirius, James' best friend and perhaps one of the best-looking male students at Hogwarts called out to the very annoyed female Gryffindor. "Come on, Evans! Just go on one little date with him so he'll stop talking about it with us?"

Lily peered around James and yelled, "Not even in his dreams!" Sirius began snickering into his Pumpkin juice and even Peter managed a chuckle, but Remus was looking up at Eve with a strange expression on his face.

Eve suddenly became aware that the light brown-haired Gryffindor was staring at her with more intensity than he ever had before. Eve could feel her cheeks redden, and she suddenly found herself wondering if she should have worn her hair differently today or if maybe a pimple had just popped up onto her face. Maybe she should cave in and let Marlene try out a little makeup on her. She didn't know why she was thinking about these things. She had caught him looking at her before during their earlier years at school, but it was never as intense as it was now.

Not wanting to make things awkward by just silently standing there and staring, she decided to be the one to speak first. "Hey, Remus. Did you finish reading that book on Alchemy that I lent you?"

Remus blinked a few times as if realising she was talking to him. "Er...yeah, I did! It's very insightful, going into detail that other books on the subject don't usually go into. Where did you manage to get your hands on it?"

"It belonged to my great-great-great-grandfather on my mother's side. I never met him because he passed away before I was born, but he left the book behind and I found it one day while playing with a litter of Puffskein that lived in our attic at that point."

Remus laughed; the sound making Eve's insides squeeze delightfully. When he smiled, his entire face seemed to light up, and his light-green eyes gained a sparkle to them. This made him even better looking than James or Sirius. But there had always been something deeper to him than just his very pleasing outward appearance, something she couldn't quite put his finger on. All she knew was that she was comfortable with him in a way that she wasn't with anyone else, not even Marlene. But there were also times when Eve felt that he was hiding something big from her.

Just then, she felt a tug on her robes and turned to see her younger brother, Connor, looking up at her. He had just enrolled at Hogwarts this year. He was sorted into Gryffindor, much to their father's pleasure. The last letter he had sent to her had been filled with hints about her younger brother's success at getting into the best House, while she was allegedly sorted into the worst, or so he was always saying every chance he got.

"Hey, scamp!" Eve said jovially, ruffling the eleven-year-old's hair, which he hated, but that was why she did it.

Connor grumbled and smoothed his hair down. "I can't find my Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration textbook. Can you help me look for it?"

Eve frowned. It was only the second week of school, and already her little brother was losing things. And here she thought she was the one who always misplaced her belongings. "Didn't you look in the common room or dormitory?" she asked.

Connor blinked up at her with a telltale expression that he hadn't, making Eve chuckle. "It's probably in there then. You have a bit more time before you have to get to your first class, maybe you could run up and get it?" she suggested.

Connor groaned and stomped his feet. "But it's too far, and I don't want to go alone!"

Remus stepped forward. "I'll go with you, mate. We'll find it in no time," he said confidently before leaving the Great Hall, listening to the blue-eyed first year talk a mile a minute. Eve found herself smiling at Remus' willingness to help out her little brother without complaining.

Realising that she only had a short amount of time to scarf down something, she hurried to the Hufflepuff table, sat down next to a random fourth year and grabbed some toast and the nearest container of marmalade to make herself a very quick breakfast.

* * *

The sixth years' Care of Magical Creatures class consisted of the fewest students out of all of the classes at Hogwarts. This was mostly because many of the other sixth and seventh years would rather avoid almost getting their limbs bitten off by one of Kettleburn's dangerous creatures than risk it again for another year. Eve happened to be the only Hufflepuff who remained in the class after her fifth year. Other students included two very brave Ravenclaws and a certain light-haired Gryffindor who made Eve's stomach do flips as he came down the hill.

Unfortunately, she was unable to talk to him as Professor Kettleburn soon arrived and led his four students to a large pen, which held four black, skeletal looking horse-like creatures. One of the Ravenclaws was looking at Kettleburn like he was off his rocker, and even Remus appeared quite confused. The professor chortled at the two students' expressions.

"I assure you; I'm not going insane. Could those of you who can see what is in this pen please raise your hand?" Eve raised her hand, as did the Ravenclaw girl. "Very good! Can one of you please tell me what these creatures are and why they can only be seen by certain people?"

Both girls' hands shot into the air, but Eve was a split second faster. "They're called Thestrals, and they can only be seen by people who have witnessed death. Many witches and wizards consider them a bad omen because of this, but that's just a myth. They're actually highly intelligent creatures who are wrongly judged because of their outward appearance." Eve said that last bit with a frown as she couldn't stand when something or someone was judged because of what they looked like.

Kettleburn's eyes sparkled proudly as he listened to Eve. "Just what I expected from my top student," he praised. "Ten points to Hufflepuff!" The Ravenclaw girl glared at her, but only because Ravenclaws could be slightly competitive when it came to correctly answering questions in class. "Now…" He looked at Remus and the Ravenclaw male. "Since you two gentlemen are unable to see them, I suggest you each pair up with one of these fine ladies for the lesson."

The two Ravenclaws immediately paired up, leaving Remus with Eve. He smiled shyly as he stepped up next to her. Eve found herself hoping she smelled good to him. Maybe she should have asked to borrow some of Amelia's perfume before heading up to breakfast.

Kettleburn soon set them to work trying to feed the Thestrals. He'd provided a crate full of raw meat for the creatures to feast upon. Both Eve and Remus grabbed a slab.

"So, how do we do this?" Remus asked, looking where he thought a Thestral might be standing and jumped when Eve put her hands on him to turn his body slightly to the left.

"Er...sorry." Her eyebrows furrowed as she wondered if she might have done something wrong by touching him. "You just hold out your hand like this." She demonstrated by holding the meat in the palm of her hand. One of the Thestrals stepped cautiously towards her and sniffed the meat before taking it and swallowing it in two bites.

"Wow!" Remus exclaimed, surprised. "It just disappeared!" He allowed Eve to give him a small nudge forward.

"Go on and try it." Remus did just that, smiling as the meat began to disappear from his hand. "This is so amazing." He then frowned as if realising something. "But why can you see them?"

It was clear that what Remus was trying to ask is who she had seen die. "My great-great-grandfather on my dad's side. He ended up passing away when I was around seven. I was at his bedside with my dad when it happened. I've been able to see them ever since coming to Hogwarts." She reached forward to gently pet the Thestral's leathery wing.

Once again, Remus couldn't help looking at her with a faint smile on his face.


	3. Chapter 3 Lions, Snakes, Eagles, Badgers

.

* * *

**Chapter Three**

**Lions, Snakes, Eagles, and Badgers**

That Saturday evening, Remus found himself struggling to concentrate on the particularly long Transfiguration essay that Professor McGonagall had assigned to the sixth years. Each time he put his quill down onto the parchment, the image of a certain teal-eyed witch popped into his mind, along with her smile, and even memories of her scent, which was always a mixture of grass and earth from the extended amount of time she spent outside, as well as a hint of something sweet that sent his mind reeling each time he stood next to her.

He remembered when she had touched him on Friday during their Care of Magical Creatures class. It was as if a pleasant jolt had been sent down his spine, which was why he had found himself pulling away suddenly. He had wanted to pull her into his arms, to feel her softness against him, to free her hair from the trappings of its ponytail, and to run his hands through the soft dark brown locks. But Remus knew that he would never be able to do such a thing with her, not with his secret, which only his three closest friends knew. He wished he could talk to them at the moment, but James and Sirius were busy serving detention once again, this time for using a spell that made Snape's hair fall out and for bewitching his boxers to give him a wedgie. Peter, on the other hand, was busy attempting to ask some girl to go to Hogsmeade with him during the next visit, although he wouldn't say who.

Remus sighed, feeling like he knew what they would say. James would say something along the lines of, 'If you like her, go for it, mate! Sure, you get a bit...er...cranky once a month, but you shouldn't let that stop you if you do have feelings for her.' Sirius, on the other hand, would probably say something a bit crasser. 'Even if you don't want to date her for obvious furry reasons, you could still snog the stuffing out of her. You need some pointers?' Peter would remain quiet, but in his eyes, there would be support for whatever Remus decided to do.

As much as he appreciated what his friends did for him, there was no way they could understand. They could sympathise with his curse, be there for him during each full moon, but they had no idea what it was really like. Werewolves were shunned by wizarding society and often hunted down. No one seemed to realise that underneath that raging, bloodthirsty beast, was a frail human being who would never do such a thing if they could help it. If he allowed himself to be something more than friends with Eve, there was the small possibility of her finding out his secret, for she was too curious for her own good, sometimes, and in turn, he might hurt her.

Sighing, he decided to give up on the essay for now and gathered his things before leaving the library. Maybe a walk around the corridors would help him think better.

* * *

"I'll see you tomorrow, Hagrid!" Eve called to the half-giant as she walked back into the castle, having just finished having tea with him and helping him care for Buckbeak.

She had even helped him in his pumpkin patch, so her robes were covered in soil and grass stains, which was never anything new to her. She quickly used a cleaning spell to siphon most of the stains from her robes but decided a trip to the girls' lavatory was in order so that she could wash her face. As she walked through the corridor, she heard what sounded like an argument ensuing around the corner. Ever curious, she passed right by the lavatory and peered around the corner, her breath catching in her throat as she saw three familiar Slytherins surrounding a Ravenclaw whom Eve recognised as Emmeline Vance. The two of them weren't exactly close, but Emmeline was still nice and always made time to talk to her.

"What do you three snakes want?" Emmeline spat to the three Slytherin boys, her hand tightly clutching the ebony handle of her wand.

Avery smirked, twirling his wand. "What's the eagle doing so far away from her nest?" he sneered.

"I think she's lost." Mulciber tweaked her nose roughly, causing the Ravenclaw to slap his hand away. "What do you think we should do with her?"

"Well, He wants all Mudbloods eradicated from the school, let's start with her," Evan Rosier suggested with a malicious grin.

Eve took a step back, her mind warring with itself as if there were two sides. One side was telling her to run and find help because there was no way she would be able to stand up to three experienced Slytherins. The other side was telling her that she had to do what was right and help Emmeline, even if it meant getting injured. Eve's left hand shook as she grasped the corner of the wall and looked at the Ravenclaw, outnumbered by three Slytherins who had a reputation for not fighting fair and for using particularly nasty spells on other students, especially those of Muggle-born status. With her jaw set, the shaking in her hand stopped, and she stepped from behind the corner and pointed her wand at the three boys.

"_Expelliarmus_!" His wand flew out of his hand and landed in her own. The shock was enough to make the three Slytherins turn around. Initially shocked that he'd been disarmed, Mulciber quickly recovered and began taunting the Hufflepuff.

"Well, well, well. Looks like we got ourselves a badger. What's wrong, little Hufflepuff? Can't find your way back to the burrow?" He snapped his fingers and Avery lifted his wand, using a summoning charm to call Mulciber's wand back to him. "That's okay, we can help you out."

He fired a Stunning Spell at Eve, but she lifted her wand and shouted, "_Protego_!" creating a small magical shield to block the spell. The desire to defend another fueled her confidence and allowed her to point her wand steadily at them. The three Slytherin's merely laughed and raised their wands to fire off Knock-back Jinxes all at once, but were knocked back, themselves, by a set of spells that whizzed right past Eve and hit them square in the chest.

"Get away from them!" Eve recognized the voice as belonging to Remus and turned to face him, somewhat shocked to see him there, but also relieved. He stepped up beside Eve. "I suggest you three leave now." His tone was calm, but his green eyes flashed dangerously as he held his arm out in front of Eve, almost as if he was shielding her from them.

"Severus didn't appreciate what your mates did to him during Transfiguration, but as he's busy with much more important things and those two are in detention at the moment and unreachable under the watchful eye of old McGonagall, I guess you'll have to take their place."

But just as they were about to fire off spells at Eve and Remus, Emmeline, who had been waiting for the right opportunity to strike, called out, "_Everte Statum_!" The charm caused Avery to fly back several feet and in the other two Slytherin's distraction, Eve and Remus used the Full-Body Bind curse on Mulciber and Evan simultaneously.

Just as Avery was beginning to stand back up, the voice of the Astronomy Professor filled their ears. "What is the meaning of this?" Professor Sinistra demanded. While she wasn't nearly as strict as Professor McGonagall, she could still be frightening in her own right. She lifted the Body-Bind Curse from Mulciber and Evan. "Now, one of you had better explain!"

It was Avery who spoke first. "Em was just agreeing to help us with our History of Magic essay, and then those two came along and attacked us for no reason!" He pointed an accusing finger at Eve and Remus, while the other two Slytherins nodded in agreement with what he was saying.

"That's the furthest from the truth, Professor," Emmeline said, her grey eyes becoming like slits when she glanced at the three of them. "I was on my way to the library to check out a book to help me with my History of Magic essay, and they attacked me, stating that I shouldn't be allowed in this school just because I was a Muggle-born. Besides, none of them take History of Magic anymore, so why would they need help on an essay for it?"

Sinistra regarded the two, almost as if she was weighing the two stories in her mind before turning to face Remus and Eve. "What about you two? Where do you come into the picture?" It was very clear that she wanted to get all sides of the story before deciding on a course of action.

Remus nodded at Eve as a silent way of letting her speak first. "Well, I just came back from helping out Hagrid and was going to go wash up a bit when I heard arguing around the corner near the girls' lavatory and saw those three bullying Emmeline. That's when I confronted them so that they would leave her alone." Eve shifted under Sinistra's piercing gaze as the older witch's dark brown eyes rested on the remaining soil and grass stains on her robes and the dirt streaked across her left cheek, along with her slightly dishevelled hair. She only nodded before turning to Remus expectantly.

"I was coming back from the library." He lifted his bookbag. "I passed by and had to do something, so I stepped in. Yes, we attacked back, but only because they attacked us, first."

Evan opened his mouth to protest, but Sinistra held up a hand to silence him. "Regardless of what happened, duelling in the corridors is still expressly forbidden. Twenty points will be taken from each of your Houses, and you will all serve detention with me tomorrow night." Eve could feel her shoulders slumping, but she also knew that she'd broken a school rule and therefore had to be punished for it, even if she was trying to defend her friend.

However, sometimes punishments also came with rewards, depending on other details in the incident. "Miss Vance, you will receive five points for speaking up and revealing the truth of what happened between you and these three gentlemen. Miss Gamp, five points for showing great loyalty towards Miss Vance and for attempting to defend her, despite being outnumbered. And five points will go towards Gryffindor for Mr Lupin's outstanding bravery and nerve." Once she'd finished giving out the points, she cleared her throat. "Now, I suggest all of you do what you need to do to get ready for dinner." Her dark eyes rested momentarily on Eve's stained robes and slightly dirty appearance. She remained as the six of them walked past her and went their separate ways, with Mulciber, Avery, and Evan glaring daggers at Eve, Emmeline, and Remus.

Eve walked silently with Remus and Emmeline for a few moments. While it was true that Snape and his group of friends did sometimes bully people, it was the first time that any of them had ever threatened serious harm to a person.

"So, did that just happen?" she asked Emmeline after a few minutes of silence. "Did they just decide to attack you because you're a Muggle-born?"

Emmeline ran her fingers through her black hair and tugged lightly on her blue and bronze tie before sighing. "I'm afraid so. They said that I shouldn't be allowed to go here and that all Muggle-borns and half-bloods should be eradicated... that this school should allow pure-bloods only."

"That group has always had a very bigoted way of thinking," Remus said in a surprisingly calm voice. "What they don't realise is that, without Muggles, Muggle-borns, and half-bloods marrying into families, the wizarding race would have died out a long time ago. So many families have resorted to interbreeding... incest to keep their bloodline as pure as possible, but even that is going to fail one day. That's why there are so few true pure-blood families left." His green eyes rested on Eve for a few moments as she was a pureblood.

"I don't think my parents are too fussed about keeping our bloodline pure." Eve smiled. "They don't seem as obsessed about it as Sirius' family seems to be."

"Aren't the two of you related?" Emmeline asked curiously. "I remember reading that all pure-blood families are interrelated in some way."

Eve nodded. "I think we might be third or fourth cousins, but I'm not too sure. When I asked my mom about it, she mentioned that his great-grandmother, Hesper Black once carried the maiden name, Gamp and was related to my dad's side of the family in some way. It's all so confusing and hurts my head to think about sometimes."

Emmeline found herself chuckling. Leave it to Eve to make her smile right after she had just been threatened by a group of prejudiced snakes. "Either way, thanks for your help, you two. I need to stop by the Charms classroom to ask Professor Flitwick a question about an essay."

"I'll come with you!" Eve immediately volunteered, squeezing the pretty Ravenclaw's shoulder. "You want to come too?" she asked Remus, who had a strange expression on his face as he looked down at Eve.

"No, I think my mates should be getting out of detention soon, and I promised I'd meet up with them." He reached forward and gently wiped away the streak of dirt on Eve's cheek, making the Hufflepuff shiver pleasantly at his touch. But before she could begin to enjoy the feeling of his warm thumb against her skin, he quickly withdrew his hand as if he'd been burned. He offered a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and turned to head in a different direction, leaving Eve feeling confused and somewhat disappointed.

"I think he likes you, but he's just shy," Emmeline offered as a way of trying to cheer up the teal-eyed witch.

Eve wished she knew what was going on, why he was sending her all these mixed signals. Did he like her or not? Maybe she could talk to Marlene later and get some advice.

* * *

"So, they attacked her?" Marlene asked on Monday afternoon during Potions. "I guess they are getting bolder." She reached over Eve for three Valerian roots to cut into small pieces and add to the Draught of Living Death that they were making.

"I just remember them saying something like 'He wants all Muggle-borns eradicated.'" Although Eve was paraphrasing a little bit there as she refused to say the more offensive term for a Muggle-born. "Could they have been talking about…" Her voice trailed off.

"It's possible. "Everybody knows that he's been gathering followers for years even if the Daily Prophet and the Ministry do deny it."

Eve frowned. "But why would they deny it?" Her eyes fell upon her potion, which was the completely wrong colour, meaning that she had probably forgotten to add an ingredient or didn't add enough of one.

"Do I have to spell it out for you? They're afraid of His followers coming after their families if they say something. So, of course, the Ministry is going to try and sugarcoat things and pretend that it's not as bad as it really is." She lightly nudged Eve with her elbow. "You forgot the Valerian," she muttered.

Eve cringed. "Oops."

Marlene shook her head. "How can you be so good at making healing and curing potions and pastes, but so hopeless at just about every other potion?" she asked with a playful smile on her face.

Eve could only shrug. "I'm not that good at healing potions. I can only really make a few very well." Her cheeks flushed pink, which happened any time she was told that she was good at something.

"You're so modest, sometimes," Marlene teased before the two girls looked up upon hearing laughter at another part of the room. James and Sirius were laughing about something and ruffling Remus' hair. While he was telling the two of them to cut it out, there was still a huge smile on her face that made Eve's heart squeeze tightly.

Marlene's hazel eyes widened and smiled knowingly at Eve. "How's it going with him, anyway? Has he snogged the stuffing out of you, yet?"

The Slytherin's words caught the Hufflepuff by surprise, and she ended up dropping the roots that she was holding into the cauldron. This caused the liquid to boil over and create a moderate-sized hole in the table. The girls lifted their things and stepped back as it seeped onto the floor.

"Ah, it seems we've had a little accident." Slughorn waddled over and drew his wand to fix the table and floor.

"Sorry, Professor." Eve blushed. "I got distracted."

"That's quite all right. I had a few mishaps back in my day too. No harm was done!" The short, portly wizard clapped her on the shoulder, making Eve wince slightly.

"How's your family doing? We really must get together for dinner one of these evenings."

"They're fine." She suppressed a giggle at Marlene, who was making silent gagging noises behind Slughorn's back. Once Slughorn had gone to check on one of the Ravenclaw student's progress, Marlene playfully tugged on Eve's ponytail. "I swear, you could accidentally blow up the entire Potions lab, and he'd still talk about asking your parents to dinner."

"You know that the only reason he shows any interest in me is because I'm descended from a long line of accomplished witches and wizards." Eve frowned as she thought of her ancestor who developed Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration; not to mention Ulick Gamp, who accomplished a lot in his time, as the first Minister for Magic. Her father was considered one of the top duellists, and her mum was considered somewhat of a prodigy when it came to Transfiguration.

Marlene wrapped an arm around Eve's shoulders and hugged her. "You're good at a lot of things, and it has nothing to do with what your family did in the past. Even if you are hopeless at most potions aside from the healing ones," she joked, dodging and laughing as Eve tried to hit her with her Potions book.


	4. Chapter 4: Deep Thoughts

.

* * *

**Chapter Four**

**Deep Thoughts and Transfiguration Notes**

"Good job, everyone!" Daniel said to the Hufflepuff team as they headed towards the changing rooms after a rigorous practice session. "Abbott, remember we have two other Chasers on the team. Try not to hog the Quaffle so much, next time. Bones, good teamwork on that Bludger maneuver. Gamp, we'll work on that defensive maneuver next time, but great work!"

The male and female members of the team went their separate ways, with the former heading towards the boys' changing room and the latter going to the girls'. Christina and Olivia were talking animatedly about the upcoming Hogsmeade visit and the various treats they were going to buy at Honeydukes, while Beatrice expressed her excitement at being able to visit Hogsmeade for the first time now that she was a third year. Immediately, Christina and Olivia gathered around her and began to make suggestions on which spots she should visit for her first visit.

Normally Eve would have joined in on the chatter and given her opinion on her favourite places to go in Hogsmeade. But at that moment, her mind was a million miles away, resting on other thoughts. The detention on Monday evening had been uneventful, and aside from Mulciber, Avery, and Evan shooting Eve, Remus, and Emmeline dirty looks each time Professor Sinistra hadn't been looking, nothing bad happened. Yet, the entire time Eve had been cleaning the telescopes, she noticed that Remus was looking paler than usual and moving a bit more slowly than usual. When she'd asked him if he was alright and if he needed to go to the Hospital Wing, he had insisted that he was all right and that he just wasn't used to cleaning without magic. Eve hadn't asked anything else after that, but she couldn't help noticing that he had lied. After all, his mother was a Muggle and Remus had plenty of practice cleaning up messes without the use of magic.

The more Gryffindor part of her wanted to immediately call him out on it and point out why she knew he was lying. After all, this wasn't the first time that Remus had felt ill. Ever since their first year at Hogwarts, Remus would disappear for a few days every month without telling anyone where he was going. Eve would assume that he was just being treated during those times and hadn't asked any questions. But when she'd finally asked him about it, he explained that his mother was sickly and he went home to visit her out of worry. Eve wondered if this was true. While his mother had looked completely healthy the few times Eve had seen her, such as at King's Cross or Diagon Alley, she didn't appear to be sick. But maybe she was just very good at hiding it, and maybe Remus was feeling sympathy sickness for her? At least, that's what the more Hufflepuff side of Eve wanted to believe.

Christina's voice brought Eve out of her deep pool of thoughts. "Hey, Eve! I'm talking to you!"

The brunette looked up at her fellow Hufflepuff, who was adjusting her tie. "Who...wha?"

The brown-eyed girl placed a concerned hand on Eve's shoulder. "Are you alright? I called your name five times."

"Six, actually," Olivia corrected while using her hand mirror to reapply some light pink lipstick.

Eve sat down on the nearest bench to put her shoes on. "I'm fine. I'm just... tired from practice, that's all, plus I have a lot of homework to finish." While the part about being tired from practice was a lie, the part about having a lot of homework was true.

Beatrice sat down next to her. "Is it a boy?" she asked, causing Eve to flush, which Olivia and Christina caught before she could attempt to regain her composure.

"No... well, yes…" Eve ran her hands down her face, slightly flustered. "I mean... I don't know." She stood up once she had her shoes on and grabbed her bag. The other three Hufflepuffs did the same thing and followed her out of the changing room. "I don't want to talk about it right now." Eve offered an apologetic smile. Christina began to ask why, but thankfully, Olivia changed the subject to save Eve from Christina's pressing questions.

Eve didn't see Remus at all on Wednesday and Thursday, but she did notice James and Sirius taking very detailed notes for him during Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts, respectively. She thought that he was lucky to have friends such as them. Even Peter, who struggled in some subjects, did what he could to make sure Remus would have all the information he needed when he returned. Eve felt that Remus would do the same thing for any of them if they had to go away for a few days out of each month.

On Friday, as Eve was walking into the Transfiguration classroom, she had an idea and immediately walked over to where James, Sirius, and Peter were sitting, their quills poised and ready to take notes. Sirius was the first one to notice her.

"Well, well, Gamp... finally decided that you can't resist me any longer?" His charming smirk was enough to make any girl blush and Eve definitely wasn't immune to it. But this was something he said to a lot of girls, so Eve knew she wasn't a special case.

"Careful, Padfoot," she teased, calling him by the nickname that his friends did. "You should know that badgers aren't afraid to go toe to toe with lions." She flipped her ponytail back over her shoulder. "But listen, you three are always taking notes for Remus whenever he disappears for a few days; why don't you let me take the Transfiguration notes today?"

The three Gryffindors looked at each other, then back to Eve. "You know, I think he'd like that," James said with an almost knowing smile. Be sure to take very detailed ones. He likes that. Oh and…" He grabbed hold of Eve's robes and whispered conspiratorially. "I'm sure he'd really like it if you sealed the notes with a kiss and wrote 'love, Eve' at the end." His expression was deadpan, but his hazel eyes glimmered with humour.

Eve could feel her cheeks burning as she walked back to her seat and sat down between Adrian and Dorcas. When McGonagall began the lesson on human Transfiguration, Eve's quill started flying over the parchment, copying down all the information that she could to help Remus stay one of the top students of the class.

Dorcas looked over at Eve with bewilderment, as she rarely took notes that detailed. "It almost looks like you're taking notes for the whole class," she whispered.

"No, just for Remus." Eve paused in her writing to look up at something McGonagall had written on the board. "He's away for a few days, and I offered to write down some notes for Transfiguration for him."

Dorcas smiled, picked up her quill, and tipped it into the inkpot. "Well, there's no need for you to cramp up your hand writing down all of those notes by yourself. I'll help you."

"Thanks." Eve smiled appreciatively, happy to have someone to help her as her hand was starting to get slightly cramped. Admittedly, the more practical part of the lesson was more fun with students taking turns attempting to transfigure each other's hair into different colours and styles. Eve couldn't help giggling as she looked over to see James and Sirius transfiguring each other's hair into afros of various colours.

There was a faint popping sound and Eve's hair suddenly felt shorter and lighter. She picked up the small mirror on the desk that McGonagall had conjured up for each of the students and looked at her reflection.

"I think it's perfect!" Dorcas giggled, sporting a rather attractive feathered blonde hairstyle, as opposed to her normally straight hair.

Eve chuckled. "Eh, I don't think spiked and bubblegum pink is really me. Crinus Muto!" She tapped her head with her wand to change it into a more becoming hairstyle, but ended up with garish pink dreadlocks, causing Dorcas to collapse into a fit of giggles.

"Hush you!" She grinned and transfigured Dorcas' hair again, changing it from the feathered style to a bright green pageboy cut. While the two girls were having fun with their little duel of wacky hairstyles, Eve couldn't help thinking that Remus would have greatly enjoyed this lesson. Too soon for Eve's liking, the class ended, and it was time for lunch. She hurried over to James, Sirius, and Peter and handed over the notes that she and Dorcas had taken for Remus.

"Hopefully these are a big help to him," she said as James took the stack of notes. "Nice, purple eyebrows, Padfoot," she badgered with a playful grin.

Sirius looked at her befuddled. "My eyebrows aren't —" He picked up the mirror on his desk and stared at his reflection. "Prongs, you git!" The bespectacled Gryffindor laughed as Sirius chased him out of the classroom, waving his wand in the air. Peter waved goodbye to Eve and followed after them. Shaking her head in amusement, she headed to the Hufflepuff common room to drop off her things before heading to lunch.

* * *

On Saturday afternoon, Remus was well enough to leave the Hospital Wing. Ever since the middle of his second year, his time there had gone from lonely to some of the best times of his life after James, Sirius, and Peter had found out about his secret. They would come and keep him company as much as they could when they didn't have class. A few times, they had even tried to skip class to see him, but he would always insist that their studies were still important. They helped him forget why he was often in the Hospital Wing in the first place.

Today was no different. The minute they were able to, the three Marauders hurried to the Hospital Wing to be there for their friend as Madame Pomfrey declared him well enough to leave, at least until the next month when this started all over again.

James lay on one of the empty narrow beds, letting a snitch hover above him before reaching out to catch it with his quick reflexes. While one of the Chasers, as well as the Captain for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, he possessed quite a bit of skill that would have made him a very decent Seeker had he tried out for that position instead.

Sirius lounged on one of the other beds, twirling his wand around his fingers. "So, Moony, you think you're ready to tell that Gamp bird about your furry little secret?"

Remus buttoned his trousers and looked at Sirius incredulously. "Have you lost your mind, Padfoot? I'm never telling her! It would ruin what friendship we have! I can't have her looking at me like I'm some kind of monster!"

James caught the snitch a final time and vanished it with a flick of his wand before sitting up. "We don't think you're a monster, mate. You're still the same Remus Lupin, except you just get a little cranky and furry once a month, that's all."

Peter grabbed one of the chocolate frogs that was on Remus' side table and opened it, biting off the head. "Eve's smart though, and has a lot of knowledge about magical creatures. She's bound to find out as we did. I'm surprised she hasn't figured it out already."

"She probably didn't think about it as much as we did," Sirius pointed out. "If she did find out, she would probably want physical proof. It may be best if she stays in the dark a little while longer.

Remus didn't want to talk about this. He had known Eve since well before they started attending Hogwarts and knew of her dangerous amount of curiosity. "She's never going to find out," he said with what he thought was a confident tone, but deep down he knew that he could only keep the secret for so long. "Do you three have the notes for the classes I missed? I want to get started on my homework and practising any spells right away."

"We've got you covered, mate." Sirius beamed as he reached into his bag to pull out the large stack of class notes.

"Thanks!" Remus took the notes and began to thumb through them, stopping once he got to the notes for Transfiguration. The small, neat handwriting belonged to Eve, although he didn't recognise the other handwriting, he knew it definitely didn't belong to the three Gryffindors with him at the moment.

"I think that's Dorcas' handwriting." Peter pointed out. "I saw her also writing a lot during Transfiguration on Friday. She must have helped Eve write all those notes."

Remus' green eyes softened as he ran his fingers over the words that Eve had written. "She really took all these notes for me?" he asked.

"She practically insisted on it." James shrugged as he handed Remus his robes, which the light-haired wizard slipped on. "Now hurry up; it's already been forty-five minutes since I last asked Evans out. I'm losing valuable time here."

Remus rolled his eyes, but a grin played at his lips. "You think following her around constantly and asking her out on a date will make her like you?"

"Well, see... I figure if I do it enough, it'll annoy her enough that she'll have to say yes to shut me up, and then I could show her a good time."

"That's never going to happen, mate. You're too much of an arrogant toerag for her tastes." Sirius smirked, earning a cuff upside the head from James.

As the two dark-haired Gryffindors bantered back and forth while leaving the hospital wing, Remus put the Transfiguration notes up to his nose and sniffed. They smelled like a mixture of ink and parchment, along with a faint fruit like smell that he knew belonged to Eve.

"Are you coming, Moony? Or should we leave you alone for a little snogging time with those notes?" Peter teased, nudging Remus and was playfully whacked by the stacks of parchment before Remus walked out after his two other friends.

* * *

Around an hour after Remus had gotten out of the hospital wing, Eve was in the Owlery, getting ready to send a letter to her parents. Freya hooted softly on the table next to her as the Hufflepuff's quill quickly moved over the parchment. She wanted to let them know that her classes were going well and she was learning a lot of interesting and advanced new spells. She left out a few things, however, such as the small mishap in Potions the other day, as well as her confrontation with the Slytherins and the detention that followed as a consequence of that. Her mum was liable to send a Howler because of the detention, alone.

After she waved the parchment back and forth to make the ink dry faster, she tied the letter to one of Freya's legs and carried her to one of the windows and watched the tawny owl take flight. Then, as she stepped away from the window and turned around, she crashed right into someone, accidentally causing them to stumble back.

"I'm so sorry!" Eve cried to the person, only realising that it was Remus a few seconds later. Ecstatic to see him, she threw her arms around him, causing the wizard to wince and almost fall back.

Remus held his arms out to catch his balance as he was practically tackled by the brunette. After a few seconds, he gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze before stepping back. "I guess you're happy to see me." He chuckled.

"I'm always happy to see you." She looked him up and down to assess his condition. He looked haggard and pale like he had lost quite a bit of sleep. "But you look like you could use some rest."

"I'm fine." He waved her concerns away with his left hand. "Thanks for the Transfiguration notes, by the way," he added.

Eve blushed and began nervously playing with her ponytail. "Were they okay? I tried to take some detailed one's for you since that's what James and Sirius said you liked. Dorcas copied down some for you too. Is my handwriting easy to read? Sometimes I think it might be a little bit too small and messy. Maybe I should have taken more detailed notes for you. I could—" She was silenced by Remus placing his left forefinger on her lips.

"The notes were fine, Eve. They were well written and very easy to understand, and you have very nice penmanship." Remus' eyes twinkled in amusement at her rambling.

"Really?" Eve asked. Remus nodded. "Yes!" She twirled around, her robes flaring out around her, making the Gryffindor laugh. "I'll start taking more notes for you in the future whenever you're gone!"

Remus smiled. "I think I'd like that. Want to work on homework together in the library?" he asked.

Eve didn't need to be asked twice and immediately agreed. The two of them headed down the winding staircase together, taking care not to step in any fresh owl droppings.


	5. Chapter 5: Stereotypes and Lightweights

.

* * *

**Chapter Five**

**Stereotypes and Lightweight**

"Don't forget that your essays on the Patronus Charm are due next Tuesday!" Professor Green reminded the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs who were bustling about packing their belongings at the end of another Defense Against the Dark Arts class. She turned towards the blackboard and tapped it with her wand, causing the notes from today's lesson to disappear.

Eve picked up her bag and began to leave the classroom, but the sound of someone calling her name pulled her back. Emmeline stood behind her, holding something out that Eve realised was her own wand. She quickly patted the pockets of her robes and realised that in her rush to pack up and get to her next class, she'd forgotten one of her most important tools as a witch.

"Oh, thanks, Em!" she said gratefully, taking the cedar wand from the Ravenclaw. "I think I'd be in a lot of trouble if I lost this." She chuckled as she slipped the wand into her robes. "Hey, Mulciber and the others haven't bothered you anymore, have they?"

Emmeline shouldered her bag and exited the classroom with Eve. "Just some dirty looks, but a few days ago, I heard that they were caught hexing a second year and attempting to lock him in one of the broom closets, but Professor McGonagall caught them. They have a week's worth of detention because of it."

Eve frowned as she nervously tugged the sleeves of her robes over her hands. "I wonder why they'd go after someone so young who can't defend themselves?"

The Ravenclaw scoffed. "Isn't it obvious, Eve? It's probably the same reason they went after me not too long ago. That student was most likely a Muggle-born, and you know how bigoted Slytherins are. That's how it's always been, and it's only gotten worse over the past few years because of all the stories circulating about You-Know-Who."

Eve thought of Marlene and a few other Slytherins who didn't fall into the same category. "I don't think it's fair to condemn all of them just because of the negative actions from a few. That's like saying all Ravenclaws are highly intelligent and get very upset if they're even one letter off from a perfect score, or that all Gryffindors are stupidly reckless glory hunters, or all Hufflepuffs are naturally good at Herbology and always have a sunny and cheerful attitude no matter what might be happening at the time. It's just simply not true."

Emmeline fell silent for a few moments, biting down on her bottom lip as she twirled her fingers around her dark hair thoughtfully. Eve wondered if maybe she was a little too critical with her words, but perhaps it was something that needed to be said.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of silence, Emmeline spoke. "I'm pretty sure I fall under the category of Ravenclaws who are obsessed with perfect grades." Her cheeks flushed as a smile lifted the corners of her mouth.

Eve covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. "I'm pretty sure I have you beat with that though. I remember in third-year Herbology, I think it was, I ended up only getting an 'Acceptable' on an essay about vampiric vegetation. Apparently, I had missed a lot of key points. I swear, I begged Professor Sprout to let me redo the essay so that I could get a better mark, but she said that sometimes bad or even average scores were a good thing and help us learn from our mistakes and become better at a certain area in a subject."

"Did you believe her then?" Emmeline asked.

"Nope, I continued begging her for about a month to let me redo the essay. I received very good scores on other pieces of Herbology homework, but I practically obsessed with this one paper. It was as if that one piece of homework was haunting me. I couldn't let it go, not until one day when Marlene caught me in another begging session with Professor Sprout, and practically dragged me away. Then proceeded to give me an earful about how ridiculous I was being over some homework that didn't matter, especially when I'd gotten good scores on all of my other Herbology homework."

Emmeline grimaced before her lips curled upwards in amusement. "I admit, I don't think I've ever gone that far when it comes to wanting to get a perfect score on some homework. I probably would have just let it go after being told no a third time."

Eve smiled sheepishly. "That's what I probably should have done in the first place, but I think it was because, being a Hufflepuff, we're supposed to be exceptionally brilliant at Herbology. At least, that's what was instilled into my mind. That isn't true for me, and I'm sure it's the same for a few other Hufflepuffs as well. The subject didn't come easy to me as it did for many others. I have to study very hard, especially because I want to be a Magizoologist and having a lot of skills in Herbology is a must when it comes to that sort of career path."

Emmeline shifted her bag to alleviate some of the weight from the thick strap off her shoulder. "I admit, I never thought of it that way. I always assumed Hufflepuffs were naturally good when it comes to flora and fauna."

"I think we have a stronger affinity to them, but that doesn't mean some of us don't have to work as hard as students from other Houses to become good at it."

Emmeline tilted her head as she studied Eve for a few moments. "Was that story a sort of lesson on how stereotypes don't often apply to a lot of people?"

Eve nodded, grinning sheepishly. "In a way, it was. I guess I just wanted to give a good example. Who knew a temper tantrum from when I was thirteen would apply so well to a lesson I'm trying to teach three years later?"

"I'd say you learned a lot from it too. I can't really see you throwing any more tantrums over essays these days," Emmeline teased, lightly shoving the brunette.

"Mmm, nope! I save all of my tantrums for when my parents yell at me for something my younger brother did. It's always the same thing too! 'You're his big sister! You're supposed to teach him right from wrong!' Or 'Why weren't you watching him like you were supposed to?' Oh, and my personal favourite… 'You must have said or done something to him, or else he wouldn't be yelling.' It gets a little ridiculous at times."

Emmeline shook her head. "Come on, I'm sure Connor can't be that bad. He's a little cutie as far as I'm concerned."

Eve decided not to tell Em about how much their dad gushed over Connor getting sorted into Gryffindor. Just the thought alone was enough to make the Hufflepuff roll her eyes hard at her dad's obsession with what he deemed to be the best House in Hogwarts. "I mean, I love him, there's no denying that, but I definitely get sick of my parents constantly taking his side."

"I guess it's just one of the many burdens of being an older sibling." Emmeline patted the Hufflepuff on the back sympathetically.

"I still don't have to like it," Eve grumbled before the two had to go their separate ways. Emmeline headed in one direction towards Divination and Eve headed to the first floor to join the few other sixth years who also decided to continue taking History of Magic.

* * *

Classes continued as usual over the next few weeks, complete with learning new spells, revising old ones, and a lot of homework that kept students up until the middle of the night. There was a definite sigh of relief when the first Hogsmeade visit was announced at the beginning of October. Remus was especially happy, because this was one of the visits where he wouldn't be stuck in the Hospital Wing due to the upcoming full moon as that wasn't until the later part of next week, and, fortunately, he had yet to start feeling ill because of it.

Sirius and James were talking animatedly about Zonko's, the very popular joke shop, and Peter was mentioning a visit to Gladrags Wizardwear for some new dress robes. Remus, on the other hand, was scanning the crowd for a familiar Hufflepuff. There were so many students around, waiting to visit Hogsmeade that it was hard to tell one from the other. Finally, he spotted her standing next to Marlene, and laughing at something the Slytherin had said and brushing some lint off of her simple teal jumper, which matched the shade of her eyes.

Marlene noticed Remus looking in their general direction and lightly nudged Eve with her elbow, causing the Hufflepuff to look up. Remus' stomach fluttered as she smiled and waved at him. He returned the gestures, something his friends seemed to notice.

"Want me to call her over here?" Sirius asked, smirking before cupping his hands around his mouth. "Oi, Gamp, get over here!"

Remus could feel his cheeks turning a mutinous shade of red as the two girls jogged over to the Gryffindors. He noticed that some hair had escaped Eve's ponytail and his fingers twitched, wanting to reach forward and tuck the loose strands behind her ears. Yet, at the same time, her physical imperfections were endearing.

"What do you want, Black? You know Eve's not interested in snogging you," Marlene taunted, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder.

Sirius smirked and stepped forward. "I bet you're interested though." He arched his left eyebrow, making the Slytherin scoff in return.

"Please, a Dementor could probably snog better than you," Marlene retorted. Eve let out a giggle-snort, which caused Remus to smile at the silly sound.

"Come on, Lene, that's not very nice!" Eve exclaimed between giggles. Marlene just shrugged and folded her arms across her chest.

James slung his arm around Remus' shoulder and grinned at Eve. "Moony here just couldn't stop staring at you, so we just decided to help him out a bit, that's all."

Remus gave the dark-haired Gryffindor a look that said 'Remind me to kill you two later', but on the other hand, he was grateful because he definitely wouldn't have had the courage to call her over to talk. He couldn't help noticing the way her freckles became more prominent when she scrunched up her nose and smiled. "I wasn't staring," he muttered, looking away and secretly wishing for less embarrassing friends.

"Whatever you say, mate," Sirius said with a smug expression, clapping his green-eyed friend on the back heartily.

"Go chase Mrs Norris or something," Remus muttered so that only Sirius could hear, which made the dark-haired Gryffindor chuckle and let out a low bark. He looked at Eve, silently apologising for the two gits beside him. At least Peter had the sense not to try and embarrass him, although he was looking from Remus to Eve as if expecting the former to say something. He supposed he should so that they weren't standing around awkwardly.

"You... er... look very nice today, Eve." He scratched his left reddened cheek, wishing he could be more smooth like Sirius, who had a way of making his smoky eyes smoulder at the girl he was talking to and causing her to go weak in the knees.

Still, she smiled just the same. "Thank you! You look nice too. I really like that colour on you."

Remus looked down at the navy blue sweater vest he wore over a simple collared button-up shirt. "Eh, I tried."

At that moment, Lily walked past with Mary MacDonald. It looked like she was trying to hide her face from a certain bespectacled sixth year, but there was no hiding those wavy auburn tresses, which James noticed immediately.

"Evans!" He hurried over to her just as the go-ahead was given for everyone to go to Hogsmeade.

"Shouldn't we wait for him?" Peter asked as he and the other two Marauders watched James at probably his nine-hundredth attempt at asking Lily out.

"Nah, he'll catch up to us in about three minutes when she compares him to the giant squid," Sirius said casually, before turning his attention to Remus. "Oi, mate! You hanging with Eve today?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Remus looked at Eve. As much as he wanted to hang out with her, he rarely got to spend a Hogsmeade trip with his friends due to them happening during the full moon a lot of the time. Eve grinned and gave him a light shove towards Sirius. "You should hang out with your friends. You barely get a chance as it is because you're almost always with your mum during those times."

He looked at her, confused for a split second, then remembered the excuse he often used for when he disappeared for a few days at a time. "Er...right...my mum." His stomach clenched uncomfortably at the lie he had been keeping up since his first year at Hogwarts. He didn't know how much longer he'd be able to keep it up.

* * *

"I don't understand why you didn't invite Remus to come along with us," Marlene said as she and Eve walked into the Three Broomsticks. Like always it was teeming with students also looking to come in out of the cold and enjoy a nice Butterbeer or something stronger for those of age. The two witches found a seat further towards the back.

"It's because he doesn't get very many Hogsmeade visits as it is." Eve set her purse on the table and took a seat. "Besides, you know you and I have always gone to Hogsmeade together since the third year; why break the tradition?"

Marlene began digging a few Galleons from her purse. "That's true, but think of all the cute things that could happen between you if you did spend time in Hogsmeade with him."

Eve slumped back in her seat. "Nothing cute would happen. Remus and I are just friends."

"Whatever you say. I'm going to go grab us some Butterbeer." Marlene stood up and walked over to the front of the pub where other students were ordering drinks. While the Slytherin was gone, Eve leaned back in her chair and picked at her fingernails, which had dirt underneath them as usual from the amount of time she always spent outside. There was no denying that she liked Remus, a lot, but she had always gotten that feeling that he was holding something back from her, that he wasn't being one-hundred percent himself with her, not like he seemed to be with his other friends. She didn't want to admit to being jealous, but maybe that's what she was.

Movement coming from her purse caused Eve's thoughts to cease and she inched forward slowly, flipping open the top, only to jump slightly as a familiar Bowtruckle rolled out onto the wooden table. "How did you get in there, Karma?" she asked the green stick-like creature. She could have sworn he had been happily tending to one of the potted plants when she'd left the Hufflepuff dorms to go meet up with Marlene. Chances are he had sneaked into her purse just as she was leaving.

"Hey, sorry it took so long!" Marlene returned holding two mugs of Butterbeer, one of which she placed in front of Eve, noticing the Bowtruckle. "You brought him along?" she asked with a raised eyebrow as Karmanor hopped onto the brunette's shoulder and used her neck as a hiding place.

"He sneaked into my purse." Eve scratched the bridge of her nose and shrugged.

"Uh-huh...anyways...look what else I got for us!" She reached into the inner pocket of her coat and pulled out two small bottles of firewhisky.

"Lene, you can't have those!" Eve hissed, looking around to see if anyone else noticed. Fortunately, everyone else seemed too preoccupied to even care about a couple of underage witches. "How did you even get them in the first place?"

"I paid a couple of seventh years to get us each a bottle." Marlene shrugged casually and set the bottles down on the table before flopping into the chair next to Eve. "Don't you think we deserve, at least, a little bit for suffering through all those classes and having to stay up all night doing homework and studying?"

"I happen to like classes though," Eve mumbled, but still eyed one of the bottles with interest. Marlene noticed her best friend staring and slid the bottle over to her. "Eh, what's one drink going to hurt?" She picked up the bottle and twisted the top off.

"That's the spirit!" Marlene picked up her own bottle and clinked it together with Eve's before taking a long swig. Eve followed suit, grimacing as she felt a burning sensation in her throat, as well as the unmistakable hint of cinnamon.

* * *

While Eve had only drunk half a bottle, she was beginning to feel the effects of the firewhisky. Even sips of her Butterbeer didn't help to alleviate the buzzing feeling happening in her brain, a not unpleasant feeling, to be honest. With the new intoxication, her tongue became much more loosened than before.

"Why doesn't he like me, though? I think I'm pretty all right! We've practically been friends since we were small children, you'd think he would feel something for me, but noooo! He has to go and give me mixed signals all the time."

Marlene knew that Eve definitely wouldn't be saying things like this about Remus if she was sober, so she just nodded sympathetically, feeling it was best to just agree with her slightly intoxicated best friend. "Boys suck sometimes."

"Yeah, they do!" She took another long sip of her firewhisky, which Marlene gently slid away from her after it was set back down again.

"Why don't I get you some water?" Marlene suggested, picking up both the bottles of firewhisky. She wished she had known that her best friend was such a lightweight, she wouldn't have gotten the drinks. Chances were, she would be fine in a few hours, though." As she walked back towards the front, the door to the pub swung open and James walked in with his friends. Looking back over to Eve, who was still mumbling to herself, then over towards the four Gryffindors, she got an idea.

"Hey, Lupin!" she called, walking over to the light-haired wizard. "I need you for a second, and not a word from you, Black," she added quickly as Sirius opened his mouth to, most likely, say something sarcastic.

Remus looked down at her. "What's wrong?" His eyebrows furrowed worriedly.

"It's Eve, she-"

"Wait, Eve? What's wrong? Is she hurt? Did someone-" His hand tightly gripped his wand.

"Put that away!" Marlene hissed. "She's fine, but she might've had a bit too much to drink."

James looked at Remus. "Butterbeer isn't strong at all, though. Are you saying she can't handle two drops of alcohol or however much is in it?"

Marlene glared at him. "Please, you know it's impossible for anyone to get intoxicated from Butterbeer, except for a house-elf." She held up the two bottles of firewhisky she had in her hand. "She might've had some of this."

Remus frowned disapprovingly. "You gave her firewhisky? You're both underage though."

"I thought we both deserved some fun after suffering through all those classes for a month," she snapped, before taking a deep breath to calm down. "Look, can you take her back up to the castle, please and to the infirmary so that Madam Pomfrey can give her something?"

Remus shifted uncomfortably. "I think you should do it since you're the one who got her in such a state."

Marlene could detect some bite in Remus' words but didn't have time to deal with his issues at the moment. "I still have to get a present for my mum since her birthday's coming up soon."

Remus rubbed the back of his neck. "I just don't know if I can. I've never taken care of a drunk person, before. I wouldn't know what to do."

Sirius scoffed. "Not true, mate. You take care of me all the time when I'm intoxicated. Then again, I hardly get that way because I'm not a lightweight like some people."

Marlene glared at him. "Say something bad about my friend again, and you'll have tentacles growing out of your face," she threatened, then looked back at Remus. "Just do me this favour, please? Besides, if you can take care of your friend whenever he gets highly intoxicated, I'm sure a slightly inebriated Hufflepuff will be a cinch for you."

Remus sighed, still very uncertain. "I suppose you're right, just...do not ever give her firewhisky again, I mean it." He said that last part with a bit of firmness before walking over to the table where Eve was sitting, folding a napkin into a strange shape.

"Hey, Eve, what're you up to?" he asked, sitting down across from her, wincing slightly as she let out a squeaky hiccup. Her Bowtruckle was looking up at her with a great deal of concern, not knowing how to handle the Hufflepuff in this state.

She held up her folded creation proudly. "I tried to make a swan, but then I remembered that I suck at origami." She slurred her words, a clear indication of intoxication and looked up at Remus, whose face was beginning to blur and distort slightly. "Whoa, I think I need glasses." She giggled and hiccuped again. "You're all fuzzy." She looked around the table and frowned. "Hey, where's my firewhisky?" Eve pouted in Remus' direction. "Did you drink it while I wasn't looking? Remus, you naughty boy, that was mine!"

"No, I didn't take your firewhisky, and you shouldn't have been drinking any either. It's way too strong for you." He spoke very calmly and with a soft smile on his face.

"No...I know you did," she mumbled, resting her forehead on the table. "Mmm, this feels nice." She was slightly aware that Remus had stood up and walked around the table, putting his hand on her shoulder. The warmth of his fingertips through her jumper felt nice.

"Why don't I take you back to the school?" he suggested gently. "Madam Pomfrey can give you something to help you sober up."

"...Okay." Eve stood up, stumbling immediately, but was saved from an embarrassing fall by Remus grabbing hold of her arm. "Hehe, almost had a tumble, didn't I?"

Remus picked up her purse and held it open so that her Bowtruckle could hop inside and decided to carry it for her. As they walked out of the pub, they passed Marlene, who had found a table to sit at with James, Sirius, and Peter. Marlene appeared to be feeling some type of remorse for being the cause of her best friend being in this state, but Eve was much too out of it to notice. Making sure she wouldn't fall over into the snow, they exited the Three Broomsticks and began heading back towards the castle.


	6. Chapter 6: Courage of a Different Sort

.

* * *

**Author's Note: I don't normally put these into my stories, but I just wanted to thank everyone who has read and reviewed so far. I especially want to thank those who have left very nice constructive criticism on what I could do to make it better. Please, keep doing what you're doing and know that I appreciate everything that you tell me!**

**Chapter Six**

**Courage of a Different Sort**

Remus silently thanked Merlin that Eve was still able to somewhat walk in spite of her sloshed state, otherwise, the trip back up to the castle would have been even more difficult. A few students that the two passed by stopped to wave, but didn't ask any questions. Remus wondered if maybe they assumed her flushed cheeks were from the cooler temperatures and her light stumbling from clumsiness and difficulty walking on the slightly slippery street. Whatever the case was, he was relieved that they didn't ask any prying questions that might cause Eve some embarrassment.

He felt a weight on his left side as Eve stumbled again on a particularly slippery patch on the road. Grabbing hold of her arm, he pulled her back into a steadier position and couldn't help chuckling.

"What're you laughing at?" Eve mumbled, having developed somewhat of a lisp in her drunken state.

"Nothing." Remus immediately stopped laughing, but an amused smile played on his lips. There was a definite contrast between Eve and Sirius when it came to the consumption of firewhisky or any other drink that contained alcohol. Sirius would have been even louder and more boastful than what he usually was. Eve, on the other hand, seemed much tamer. Then again, the amount she had consumed wasn't nearly as much as what Remus' best friend often drank.

Finally, the two reached the castle and Remus helped Eve up the steps and inside. With the majority of the students and teachers visiting Hogsmeade at the moment, there wasn't anyone loitering around in the Entrance Hall, fortunately.

"It feels much nicer in here!" Eve exclaimed as they stepped out of the cold air and into the comforting warmth that was the school. Remus smiled in silent agreement and led her up the stairs to the first floor where the infirmary was located. When they reached their destination, Remus peeked in and looked around. He couldn't see Madam Pomfrey, but he could hear her moving about towards the back of the Hospital Wing, humming.

Remus ushered Eve inside and helped her to the nearest bed. "I'll fetch Madam Pomfrey. Try not to move too much," he advised.

"There's no need; I already heard the two of you coming in." The matron hurried over to them, her footsteps brisk. "What seems to be the problem here?" Her gaze went from Remus to Eve.

Remus hadn't yet thought about how he would explain things to Madam Pomfrey. The truth would have been the best option. Even if Eve did get into trouble, it would be much worse if she was caught in a lie. Yet, before Remus could even open his mouth, Madam Pomfrey knelt down to closely examine Eve.

"Hello, Madam Pomfrey!" Eve said brightly. "Are you going to give me a check-up? I like check-ups, especially when I can get a lollipop at the end."

The matron sighed. "There's no doubt about it, she's clearly intoxicated. I can smell the firewhisky on her breath, not to mention the other telltale signs." She stood up, folding her arms across her chest and looked down at Eve with a stern expression that a mother might give a misbehaving child. "How did you get ahold of firewhisky?" she asked, knowing that Eve was a minor, as was Remus.

"She told me that she paid an older student to buy some for her." Remus couldn't believe what had come out of his mouth. This wasn't true at all, but he could have sworn that Eve looked at him almost gratefully for not dobbing on Marlene and potentially getting the Slytherin into trouble.

Madam Pomfrey appeared sceptical, and Remus didn't blame her, for Eve wasn't the kind of person to break the school rules unless she had a very good reason such as a friend in need of some help. He thought back to all the times Eve had broken the rules and risked punishment, just because someone else was in trouble. Paying someone to buy her firewhisky definitely wasn't something she would have done.

After a few moments, the matron straightened again and shook her head. "You should know better than to consume firewhisky, being underage, but you're not the first student who has drank too much and then come to me complaining for some relief." She tutted as she walked away, presumably to prepare a tonic that would help sober her up.

With Madam Pomfrey gone for a few minutes, at least, Remus could now speak freely to the Hufflepuff, who was tracing the patterns etched into the pale green blanket. "What made you want to drink like that? You've never expressed an interest before for as long as I've known you."

"Are you going to lecture me?" She pouted. "Sirius and James probably drink way more than I ever have and I never hear about you lecturing them."

It was true that, other than telling his friends not to indulge too much, he often looked the other way when they drank, or would sometimes have a little bit with them, but not enough to get fully intoxicated. "I'm not lecturing you, Eve," he said gently, reminding himself that she wouldn't be like this if she were sober. "I'm just curious because you don't seem like the type who would drink."

Eve stopped playing with the blanket. At first, she was silent, and Remus thought she wasn't going to say anything. "Because I'm not brave and I heard that firewhisky gives people courage!"

Remus was surprised by her words because he could count a generous number of times when Eve had expressed bravery. He wondered if her current state might make her slightly more honest than usual, but before he could say anything, Madam Pomfrey returned, carrying a small clear goblet filled to the brim with a very unappealing looking brown-green liquid.

"Drink this, then rest. You should sober up in about an hour."

Eve took the goblet and stared at the contents inside with uncertainty. "Well...bottoms up." She tipped the cup upwards and drained it completely, sputtering and coughing in the process.

"Ugh, it's disgusting! What's in this?" She rubbed her tongue against the roof of her mouth as if trying to get rid of the taste.

"Well, you wouldn't have had to drink it if you just stuck to Butterbeer." Madam Pomfrey took the goblet from Eve. "Now, I suggest that you try not to move and let the potion take effect." She shook her head disapprovingly as she walked away again.

Remus stood up. "I should probably let you get some rest." He began to leave, but a tugging on the hem of his sweater vest caused him to stop and turn around.

"Stay with me for a few minutes," Eve pleaded. After a moment's hesitation, Remus complied and grabbed a nearby chair to sit in. After all, he still had questions. He conjured a goblet with his wand and used the Aguamenti spell to fill it before handing it to her. She thanked him as she took it and sipped the clear liquid, which most likely tasted better than the potion she had just consumed.

"So, back to what we were talking about before." He took the now empty goblet back and set it on the side table. "Why would you want to drink firewhisky to gain courage? You're plenty brave enough without resorting to something like that." He smiled.

Eve leaned back against the white pillows, wincing as her head hit the iron rails of the headboard. Rubbing the offended area, she managed to answer him. "I'm not though. I might do a lot of things that might seem brave, but the truth is, I'm always scared to death. Even a few weeks ago, during that incident with Emmeline being tormented by those three Slytherins, I was terrified that I almost turned and ran the other way! I was thinking that maybe someone else would come along and help her."

"But you didn't run though," Remus pointed out. "You decided to stay and help her, even though you were outnumbered. Wanting to run doesn't make you a coward." He wanted to ascertain that she was only saying these things because of her current circumstances but also wondered if there was a ring of truth to her words, at least in her mind. Had she been feeling this way the whole time and only hiding it?

"I wanted to, though! I wanted to take the easy way out!" she blurted. "I didn't want to confront them!"

Remus reached forward and put his hand over hers, squeezing it gently. After a few seconds, she squeezed back. "Doing what you want and doing what is right are two different things. You can do what you want all day, but I think it takes even more courage to do what is right."

Eve began to chuckle, leaving Remus feeling puzzled. "What's so funny?"

"It's nothing. I was just thinking about something I said to Emmeline the other day. You're not like other Gryffindors. You're more sensible and calm. You don't boast about your accomplishments or recklessly run into danger like other Gryffindors might."

Remus almost laughed, himself, especially when she mentioned that he never did anything reckless. If anything, it was reckless that he allowed his best friends to be with him during the full moon, knowing full well that one day, they might be forced back into their human forms through some means, and he would attack them. It was reckless of him to even be allowed to attend Hogwarts, despite the precautions that Dumbledore took to ensure his safety and the safety of all of the students. It was reckless of him to even be around her, for she might one day make that discovery and be hurt because of it, either mentally or physically. Neither of which he would wish upon anyone.

"I've had my reckless moments." He left it at that, hoping she wouldn't ask any pressing questions.

Eve removed her hand from his and placed it in her lap, playing with her fingernails and briefly biting down on her bottom lip. "My dad would definitely approve. He could go on and on about how great Gryffindor is, and how it's the best House at Hogwarts."

This wasn't the first time Remus had heard this. From what Eve had told him in the past, her father often expressed disappointment at the fact that she wasn't sorted into Gryffindor, or even Ravenclaw like her mother had been.

"I think your dad is proud of you no matter what House you were sorted in." At least you don't have a curse that prevents you from living a normal life. He immediately shook the thought from his head, ridding himself of the bitterness and spite. None of what had happened with him was her fault, and he would rather be forced into his werewolf state a hundred times over than take his anger and frustration out on her.

"I know he is, but sometimes I wonder if I'm a disappointment for not being sorted into the House he wanted me to. My brother had no problem with it. You remember the start of term feast, don't you? The hat was barely on his head for two seconds before it blurted out 'Gryffindor'!"

Remus remembered as it had been recently. He also remembered seeing Eve smiling brightly and cheering louder than the rest of the students when her brother was sorted. "You were happy for him, though."

"Of course I was! He had been so excited about attending Hogwarts ever since I got my first letter at eleven. He even tried to hide in my trunk when it came time for my first year, but our mum caught him." She giggled at the memory. "It's something I would have done too if I had an older sibling who was about to attend Hogwarts."

Remus wouldn't put it past her to do something like that if she had the opportunity and smiled at the image.

"I'm happy he's in Gryffindor, though. He has a lot of good people to look out for him when I'm unable to." She looked up at Remus with quite the worried expression. "Connor's all right, isn't he? He's made lots of friends, and no one has tried to bully him, have they?"

Even though Eve complained about him, Remus could see that she cared about her younger brother very much and his green eyes softened at her worry for the eleven-year-old. "He's all right. He's made quite a few friends, and no one has bullied him as far as we know. Although, I think if he's anything like his big sister, he'll be able to handle any bullies that come his way." He winked teasingly at her.

Eve blushed and looked away, smiling. "I actually fear more for the bullies who incur his wrath. Connor has quite the temper on him when he gets angry. I can see now why he was sorted into Gryffindor. He certainly has the hotheadedness and temper of one."

Remus didn't doubt that for one second. His mind travelled back to a few days ago when he was playing a few rounds of wizard chess with Connor. In his anger at constantly losing, the eleven-year-old ended up blasting a nice sized hole in the middle of the chessboard, nothing catastrophic, but a clear sign of his short temper. But maybe it was best if Eve didn't know about that.

"Our dad was over the moon when he found out that Connor was sorted into Gryffindor. I swear, he sent two full pages of parchment, front and back, gushing about how proud he was. I think the only thing he complained about was the fact that Connor wouldn't be able to join the Quidditch team until next year because of the rule that's in place regarding first years and Quidditch." She pulled her ponytail over her shoulder and began playing with it. "I'm just relieved that he wasn't placed into Slytherin."

Remus' eyebrows furrowed. "Because of your dad?" he asked.

Eve nodded, her shoulders slumping dejectedly. "He sort of becomes sour each time I mention Marlene. He doesn't think much of Slytherin and assumes that they're all bigots who will stab you in the back the first chance they get."

"But you don't believe that?"

"No way! Just because Slytherin has a few bad eggs, it doesn't mean they're all like that. Marlene is definitely one of the exceptions to the negative traits that seem to follow Slytherin."

"I never asked before, but why are you two friends? You're both so—"

"Different?" Eve looked up at him and smiled. "There's no denying that, but I think that if we both had the same personality it would get boring, don't you?"

Remus thought of his three friends and how they were all a contrast to each other in some way or another and agreed with Eve via a slight nod.

"I kind of hold back with certain things. She's not afraid to tell it like it is and go after what she wants. Sometimes, I have my head in the clouds. She's the one who brings me back down to earth when needed. She's good at subjects and spells where I'm only average and vice versa. We help each other in the areas we're struggling in. We both joined the Quidditch teams for our respective Houses at the same time, but I became a Keeper, which is all about defence, whereas she became a Chaser, a more offensive position. She's not afraid to sometimes break the rules to benefit herself. I only break them if it's a benefit for others."

Remus knew the differences between the two girls were rather vast, but when he saw them hanging out together, all he saw were two friends who enjoyed each other's company. "There are some similarities, though, right?"

"Quite a few, actually. Neither of us likes seeing others being bullied and will step in if it's happening. We both enjoy the outdoors, but I think I like it a little more than she does. She's more fussy about her appearance than I am and doesn't really care for dirt under her fingernails or grass stains on her robes. We're there for each other, no matter if one of us does the wrong thing. We both love animals, although she tends to steer clear of the slimier or scalier creatures. We both love to learn as well and work hard in every subject, even the ones we don't fully grasp. If anything, we work even harder in those."

While Remus still wasn't very happy that Marlene had bought firewhisky for the two girls to drink, there was no denying the two girls' friendship. It wasn't perfect, but it was still very solid. "I think Marlene's lucky to have such a good friend like you."

Eve blushed again but didn't turn away this time. "There was a part of me that was hoping she would have walked me back to the school, but I'm glad it was you."

Remus could feel the warmth in his cheeks growing. His eyes travelled down to her lips, which looked so appealing at the moment. There was a part of him that wanted to kiss her right then and there, to taste her and to breathe in her sweet scent. But in the midst of such blissful thoughts were a pair of large yellow-green eyes and the sound of a wolf-like snarl, which brought him out of his euphoric daydreams and reminded him of why he couldn't pursue such a thing with her. Even though he found it impossible to stay away from her, he had to bring their relationship back to the way it was before he'd started developing these feelings during their fourth year, back to an innocent and strictly platonic friendship...the same he had with his fellow Marauders. He did this the only way he knew how.

"I know you're not allowed to leave just yet, but there's no reason why I can't sneak into the kitchens and grab us something to eat. You have to be starving, is there anything you want?"

Like a charm, it worked. Eve's stomach began growling, as a reminder that it had been a while since she last ate. The disappointment that he could have sworn he saw in her teal eyes disappeared and was replaced with a more sheepish expression. "Nothing too big, maybe a chocolate chip muffin and some hot cocoa?"

Remus was more than happy to get those things and happy to be able to push down his feelings for a little while longer before they resurfaced again to torment him. "I'll be back shortly." He stole another glance at her before disappearing from the infirmary. He didn't have the Marauders Map on him at the moment to warn him of any teachers that might hinder his trek to the kitchens, nor did he have James' invisibility cloak to help hide him. Fortunately, with the castle mostly empty, save for a teacher or two and the younger students, it wouldn't be too difficult to sneak into the kitchens.


	7. Chapter 7: Side-effects of the Curse

.

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**Side-effects of the Curse**

The next morning, Eve found herself waking up earlier than usual, even though it was Sunday. She groaned and pressed her head against the fluffy floral patterned pillows, willing herself to go back to sleep, but found it impossible. Knowing that sleeping for another few hours was out of the question, she quietly slipped out of bed, taking care not to disturb the three witches that she shared a dorm with.

A glance at her watch on the bedside table told her that it was only a few minutes after six, which was the earliest students were allowed to be out of their dormitories. Quiet as a mouse, she pulled a set of clothes from her trunk and tiptoed into the adjoining bathroom to get ready without fear of disturbing the other girls too much.

Once she had traversed the long tunnel and stepped through the round wooden door into the common room, she felt more comfortable being a little louder as there was no one snoozing on any of the plush sofas or chairs. The only noise that she could hear was the crackling of the fire, enchanted to stay lit constantly without the need for more wood. The light from the flames set off a comforting glow against the earthen tones of the walls. Eve's eyes travelled above the mantle to look at the painting of the House founder, Helga Hufflepuff, who possessed a smile that could fill even the most scared of individuals with a sense of warmth and protection.

Eve had never visited the other common rooms, but because she had friends in each of the other three Houses, she had come to learn early on that her House was the only one that possessed a painting of the founder. Like Slytherin, Hufflepuff was also submerged. But while the former was located under the Black Lake, according to Marlene, the latter was located one floor below ground, meaning that both Houses were more protected from the outside elements than the Houses that were situated in the towers, such as Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. The view from the round windows displayed a grassy field covered in dandelions, another enchantment as it always displayed the same weather: bright and sunny.

Breakfast wouldn't be for another hour, but Eve knew she would grow restless staying inside for too long, despite the cosiness of the common room. Stepping over various pieces of incomplete homework and what looked to be an unfinished wizard's chess game, she left the common room and stepped out into the basement corridor. She draped her yellow and black scarf around her neck as she made her way through the long path and up the stairs onto the ground floor. A glance out of one of the windows gave her a proper view of the outside. There were the telltale signs of a nightly snowstorm, which had blanketed the school grounds with even more snow than there had been yesterday.

Despite the state she had been in yesterday, she remembered everything as if she had been sober. A flush set upon her cheeks as she recalled all of the things she had said to Remus, all that she had confessed. A gentle warmth filled her stomach at the memory of him listening to her and giving his advice without disapproval or judgement. By the time the intoxication had worn off, his friends, as well as Marlene had returned from Hogsmeade. Eve had felt guilty for having taken so much time away from Remus and his friends, so she had assured the Gryffindor that she was all right and urged him to spend the rest of the day with his friends. He had appeared reluctant to leave her, but rather grateful at the same time.

James, Sirius, and Peter had even brought them bags upon bags of assorted sweets from Honeydukes for the two of them. The former two could be complete gits most of the time, but there was no denying that they did their best to make those they considered their friends feel better, even if it was through a small gesture like a bag of candy. Marlene, who had felt guilty about urging Eve to drink, presented the young Hufflepuff with a silver charm bracelet and a book called Creatures of the Night by an unknown author, which appeared to contain information on the more nocturnal beasts and beings of the wizarding world. The book was locked safely in her trunk, and she had made a mental note to read it at some point for she loved any reading material that contained details about magical creatures.

As suspected, the ground floor was completely void of any students or professors, but Eve was certain that some of the latter were awake in other parts of the castle. Wrapping her scarf securely around her neck, she pulled open the giant oak double doors and stepped outside only to be hit immediately with a blast of cold air, which set her teeth chattering. Still, Eve wasn't a witch for nothing and pulled out her wand, muttering the incantation for the hot-wind spell, which helped do its part in keeping her warm as she traversed across the snowy ground.

A rustling noise from the Forbidden Forest caused Eve to stop in her tracks and clutch her wand more tightly. She relaxed when she realised that it was only Hagrid and not a class five creature on a murderous rampage. Even from a distance, she could see that he was carrying a large bucket. Although, she was unable to see the contents unless she drew closer, which she did.

"Hagrid!" The half-giant looked up, beaming a bright smile at the sixteen-year-old who hurried down the hill to greet him.

He ruffled her hair fondly with a large hand. "Eve, what're yeh doin' out here so early? It's not Friday just yit."

Eve giggled and stepped away from his playful touch, smoothing down her hair. "Couldn't sleep and didn't want to stay inside. What are you doing coming from the forest?"

Hagrid held up the large bucket, which contained many dead ferrets. "Had ter find Buckbeak his breakfas'. Many dangerous creatures would hurt 'im if he went in alone. Plus he's still jus' a baby 'n' all."

"You're doing the best you can, Hagrid. You're the closest thing he has to a mother, so he counts on you to teach him all of the things a Hippogriff parent would." Eve patted his arm reassuringly. "You're doing the right thing keeping him from the forest for now. Baby hippogriffs learn how to fly a week after hatching, but don't become very strong fliers until months after."

Hagrid led Eve towards the back of his hut. "Yeh'll make a very good magizoologist when yeh leave Hogwarts. Can't say I won't miss yeh when yer gone. Not many students are fond o' creatures like yeh're."

"I like to think that I understand them, that's all." A modest blush touched Eve's cheeks as the two of them came to Buckbeak's pen. The Hippogriff, who was flying in circles a few feet off the ground, landed clumsily and regarded the pair warily, waiting for them to make the first move.

Hagrid nudged Eve forward, which she took to mean that she should be the first to bow. She kept eye contact the entire time as she bent her upper body low. A few seconds later, the young Hippogriff bent his front legs, then did the same for Hagrid who bowed a few moments after Eve had received the creature's approval.

"Yeh wanna feed 'im?" Hagrid asked, holding up a limp grey ferret.

Eve didn't need to be asked twice and took the creature from Hagrid's outstretched hand and held it towards Buckbeak. "You want this, little one?" she asked softly, even though the young Hippogriff was about as tall as her.

Buckbeak sniffed the ferret before snatching it out of Eve's hand and crunching down on it loudly. The sound made Eve wince a little bit, but as it was his diet, she understood.

"You're becoming a very strong flier every day." She patted the Hippogriff's beak, smiling as he closed his eyes lazily, enjoying the attention. "I reckon you'll soon be strong enough to fly around the castle grounds without any problems, won't you?"

Buckbeak puffed out his feathered chest proudly and squawked almost haughtily. Hippogriffs were very proud creatures, so it came as no surprise that he would be very smug, even at a young age. Eve fed him two more ferrets before Hagrid invited her into his hut for some morning tea.

"Rock cake?" he asked, offering her a plate of the questionable pastries.

Eve suppressed a wince so as not to hurt Hagrid's feelings. "No, thank you. I'm fine with just the tea." The last time she'd tried to eat one of the large cakes, she had chipped a tooth.

Hagrid poured himself some tea, although with a splash of brandy, before sitting down across from her in his large patterned chair. Eve winced as the hot liquid burned her tongue and added a little more milk to help cool it.

"Yer father works in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement fer the Ministry, doesn' he?" Hagrid asked, taking a healthy slug of his brandy laced tea without so much as wincing, despite how hot the drink must have been.

Eve chanced another small sip of her tea before setting the cup down. "That's right, he leads the Investigation Department subdivision. Why do you ask?"

"I was jus' wonderin' if he's told yeh any news that the Daily Prophet hasn'. Yeh know the paper likes ter sugarcoat things. 'As 'e send yeh any letters?"

Eve shook her head. "My mum didn't think it would be a good idea because there was a possibility of them being intercepted by the wrong people. Just over the summer, three families ended up disappearing. The Daily Prophet tried to reassure everyone, saying that they had moved away, but my dad and his team checked out all three houses and found that all of their belongings had been left behind. I don't think anyone would leave their things behind if they were moving away, do you?"

"The Ministry is trying to make us believe that they have things under control when they don'. Why, if Dumbledore were Minister, things would get done, and we wouldn' be in this mess."

Eve smiled at Hagrid's unquestioning loyalty towards the Headmaster. "I think Dumbledore has his reasons for not accepting the position. But even a baby Niffler would be a better Minister than the one we have in office now." There was no hiding the bitterness in her voice.

"I see yeh've been reading the paper as well." Hagrid poured himself more tea, along with another healthy splash of brandy. "More Dementors in Azkaban. I wouldn' wish that place on even the most 'orrible person."

"Neither would I, but the Ministry has been reassuring everyone that it would help in the long-run. I don't believe it though. Dementors are only loyal to those who can provide them with the most souls to consume. If that happens to be. . . Voldemort, then he would gain a formidable army that would potentially be unstoppable. Many of the most capable witches and wizards are still unable to create a corporeal Patronus."

"Yeh think he's making things worse?" Hagrid furrowed his eyebrows worriedly and shuddered at the sound of that name.

Eve clutched her teacup tightly and stared bitterly into the warm liquid. "I don't think; I know. He's practically handing the win to the enemy if this keeps up."

"Least Hogwarts is the safes' place anyone can be right now." There was a glimmer of hope in Hagrid's voice that Eve didn't want to snuff out, but she had to be honest with him.

"I wish that much were true, Hagrid. The truth of the matter is that there's speculation that Voldemort might be recruiting inside the school. Various students have already begun showing their support for him by attacking Muggle-borns and those they deem blood traitors. It's not only happening in Slytherin, either. The other day, I overheard a few Ravenclaws talking, and they seem to believe that Voldemort has the right idea too."

Hagrid grit his teeth. "Please stop sayin' his name out loud."

Eve suddenly stood up, holding her head high. "I'm not going to let something as trivial as a name frighten me, Hagrid! That's just what he wants, for us to be afraid of even his name. If that's the case, then he's already won!" She could feel her temper flaring and forced herself to take a deep breath and speak softly. "We can't keep hiding our heads in the sand and our tails between our legs, Hagrid. Sooner or later, we're all going to have to make a decision."

Hagrid sighed. "I know that, and you can bet a million Galleons that I'll be by Dumbledore's side when that time comes."

Eve reached forward to squeeze his hand. "I know you will."

Hagrid suddenly began laughing, leaving Eve to frown and tilt her head. "What's so funny?"

"I believe that yer Gryffindor side was shinin' through just now, that's all." His eyes twinkled with mirth.

She could feel her cheeks growing warm, but smiled just the same. "I think I've just been hanging out with Gryffindors so much lately that it's started rubbing off on me, that's all."

Hagrid knew that Eve had come very close to being sorted into Gryffindor before the hat had ultimately put her in Hufflepuff. Eve remembered her surprise when she had learned that Hagrid had also experienced a hat stall between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor during his first year at Hogwarts before the hat had chosen the latter. It was one of those pieces of knowledge about one another that helped with their ever-growing bond.

"No, I don' think that's it. Yeh might not have that Gryffindor pride, but yeh have the bravery when it counts."

The conversation with Remus yesterday was still fresh in her mind. She was scared, plain and simple. Scared of what the future held; scared that she wouldn't be able to do her part; scared that she would be powerless to help those in need. She pushed her worries away, hiding them behind an easy smile.

"It's the company I keep." A playful grin touched her face. "You're all rubbing off on me in the worst ways possible." A glance at Hagrid's roughly made clock told her that it was almost eight o'clock, which was when breakfast was served. Not only that, Daniel had booked the Quidditch pitch for practice afterwards.

"I should go." She set her empty teacup down. "I'm pretty sure that my dorm mates are wondering where I am. If they're already awake, that is."

Hagrid stood, his large form making the hut look even smaller than it was. "I'll walk yeh back."

Eve tried to assure him that he didn't have to, but he stubbornly insisted. She stopped by Buckbeak's pen to give the Hippogriff one more hearty pat before allowing Hagrid to bring her back to the school.

He declined Eve's offer to have breakfast with her and waved as she stepped back into the warm castle.

* * *

The rest of the weekend came and went in the blink of an eye. Soon, it was Monday and time for classes to start once more. Remus had spent the earlier part of Sunday with his three friends and the latter in the dorms sleeping. The full moon would arrive on Friday night, and he could already feel the effects starting to weaken him. A quick look in the boys' lavatory mirror displayed his peaked complexion and dark circles under his eyes. In two more days, his eyes would begin taking on a slight yellow tone as the time for the next transformation grew near.

Still, if there was one thing that Remus despised more than his foul curse, it was missing classes. He would stubbornly attend them up until the point where he had to disappear for a few days. Even his three best friends couldn't persuade him otherwise.

Remus walked into the History of Magic classroom that Monday afternoon and took his seat at the front. Aside from him, only six other students took the class in the form of five Ravenclaws and one Hufflepuff. Each of the Ravenclaws were already poised to take detailed notes even though Professor Binns hadn't arrived yet.

Remus began taking what he needed out of his bookbag when the classroom door opened once more and in walked Eve. His heart clenched in his chest as she crossed the room and sat down next to him, tossing her ponytail away from her right shoulder and allowing him to catch the scent of her shampoo. Lycanthropy was known for heightening some of the senses, such as smell and sight. The senses grew stronger when the full moon was just a few days away. Aside from the scent of Eve's hair, he was also able to smell everything else in the room, including the parchment, the ink, the wood from the desks, and even the various scents coming from the five Ravenclaws. One of them needed to invest in a proper deodorant.

Remus wanted to speak with Eve, but Professor Binns floated through the blackboard and immediately began class without so much as wishing his students a good afternoon. Then again, that had never been his way of doing things. Remus picked up his quill, prepared to take notes and watched Eve do the same. He noticed that her nails were painted a rather nice orange and purple in celebration of the upcoming holiday. Little pumpkin faces had been painted on each finger, and he had been about to tell her how much he liked them that he almost didn't hear the next words that Professor Binns spoke.

"Werewolf uprisings date back as early as Ancient Greece when the very first werewolf, King Lycaon of Arcadia sought revenge on the wizard, Zeus, who had been the one to curse him and his fifty children with lycanthropy. Lycaon—"

Dahlia Burhnam raised her hand, cutting the professor off. "Sir, in the texts on Ancient Greece that I read, it says that Zeus was a god, not a wizard." She looked proud of herself for thinking she had corrected the professor.

Eve raised her hand to speak up. "Only Muggle texts record him as being a god. In actuality, he was a wizard who was believed to have been so powerful many people worshipped him as a god."

"Then how do you explain his immortality?" Dahlia demanded. "Witches and wizards may live longer than Muggles, but we're far from immortal!"

"Who ever said he was immortal? There are forms of magic that no one has studied for thousands of years. He discovered ways of prolonging his life, ways that have long since been dead to wizardkind."

Dahlia glared at Eve and opened her mouth for an insult, but Professor Binns cleared his throat.

"Miss Glimp is right, Miss Bertman. Ten points to Hufflepuff for proper research and for correctly informing others instead of allowing them to live in ignorance. Now then...where was I? Oh, right. After Zeus cursed Lycaon and his children with lycanthropy, the King sought revenge on the wizard."

Remus's knuckles turned white as he clutched the edge of his desk, his notes completely forgotten as Professor Binns continued his tail of the first werewolf uprising. Even though the ghost spoke as monotone as usual, Remus could still detect a hint of loathing in the Professor's voice when he detailed the king's and his children's triumphs and a tone of pride when speaking of their failures.

Remus glanced briefly at the Ravenclaws. Most of them had their heads bent down and were taking notes, but Dahlia had an abhorrent smirk across her face, setting Remus' blood almost to the boiling point. She said nothing, but she didn't have to. It was clear that she agreed with Professor Binns' apparent hatred for werewolves.

A sudden light weight on his clenched left hand caused him to abruptly turn away and look at Eve, who was looking at him instead of listening to the professor who continued to drone on and on. At first, Remus thought that she might have figured out his secret. But her eyes were not filled with realisation, only concern.

He quickly pushed her hand away and raised his. "Professor, may I please go to the infirmary? I'm not feeling very well."

"Of course, Mr Lapine, but you're going to miss quite the exciting lesson."

Remus didn't bother correcting him as he gathered his things and hurried out of the classroom, unable to stand another second with those hateful bigots. Halfway through the corridor, he could feel his body growing sluggish and was forced to stop at one of the benches that lined the hallway. There, he groaned and buried his face into his hands, vaguely aware of the footsteps approaching, but didn't bother to look up, thinking that it was just a random student passing by.

"Remus?"

He looked up at the familiarity of the voice and saw Eve standing before him, shuffling her feet and tugging at the sleeves of her white button-up. "Are you okay?"

Just go away, Remus mentally willed her, but at the same time, a small part of him wanted her to stay. "I already said that I'm not feeling well in the classroom. Isn't that enough of a hint?" I don't want to hurt you.

"It looked like you were becoming angry by what Professor Binns was saying." She sat down next to him.

Remus looked away, feeling his jaw begin to clench tightly. "I just told you, I wasn't feeling well." He sighed, silently willing her to leave him alone once more.

She wouldn't. "You didn't like what he was saying."

Remus wished to Merlin that she wasn't so perceptive, that she would stop paying such close attention. "Didn't like what who was saying?" Maybe if he feigned ignorance, she would leave him alone before he grew too angry.

"Professor Binns. You didn't like what he was saying about werewolves."

Remus didn't want to look at her, but he did. What he saw wasn't the same loathing for Lycans that Binns and that wretched Burhnam displayed, but sympathy, sympathy that he couldn't stand to look at without wanting to break down.

He turned away again. "You should probably get back to class. It's bound to be an exciting lesson," he muttered bitterly.

"I don't care about some stupid lesson taught by a bigoted professor. I'm more worried about you!" She put her hand on his shoulder, but he drew back quickly.

"Stop trying to touch me!" he shouted, slapping her hand away. "You can't fix everything, Eve! Stop thinking that you can!"

Eve's eyes widened, and she slowly lowered her hand, placing it on her lap. "I'm sorry. . . I just want to be there for you and make sure that you're alright."

"Maybe I don't want you hovering over me all the time!" he snapped. "Just please leave me in peace!"

She wanted to say something, Remus could see it, but after a few minutes of opening and closing her mouth, she stood up and slowly walked back towards the History of Magic classroom with her head hanging down.

When she finally disappeared, Remus let out a low groan that almost sounded like one that a wounded dog or even wolf would make. He wanted to go after her, to pull her to him and apologise over and over again. Nothing he did or said could ever make up for how he had just spoken to her. How could he ever expect her forgiveness after that?

Because he had been feeling ill since yesterday, a visit to the Hospital Wing was mandatory.


	8. Chapter 8: Confrontations and Apologies

.

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

**Confrontations and Apologies**

Marlene walked briskly through the first floor corridor, her firm footsteps an indication of importance in her destination. Those who glimpsed the fiery blaze in her eyes stepped out of her path, quickly, not wanting to incur her wrath, even accidentally. Her mind reeled with the event that happened just an hour previously.

* * *

_One Hour Earlier..._

After classes had finished for the day, the last thing Marlene wanted to do was start on her homework first thing. Unfortunately, there was no Quidditch practice today for the Slytherin team, but that didn't mean she couldn't practice various broomstick maneuvers in the meantime. If she didn't keep up her skills, she could, very well, lose her spot on the team.

Marlene made a quick stop at her dormitory to grab her Nimbus 1001 before heading outside towards the Quidditch pitch. Even though the sky was mostly clear, there was a cold wind blowing throughout the grounds. However, her attention was soon distracted by the sighting of a certain dark-haired Hufflepuff. She stood at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, her attention on something that the Slytherin couldn't see. Marlene wasn't in the least bit surprised that Eve was near that place; but even from a distance, Marlene could see her best friend's shoulders slumped in the telltale way that something was wrong.

Mounting her broom, she hovered a few inches above the ground and quickly flew down the slope to reach Eve through a much faster way than walking. She halted her broom a few feet behind Eve and dismounted, slowly approaching the young woman.

"What are you doing?" She stood beside Eve and followed her gaze towards the tree she was standing in front of.

At first, Marlene couldn't understand why Eve appeared so interested in the tree, but after a few seconds of looking, she could see movement in the branches and realised that it was a small colony of Bowtruckles.

"I thought that Karmanor should try to be friends with his own kind." She pointed to one of the Bowtruckles.

Marlene's forehead furrowed as she peered down at the Bowtruckles, tilting her head. "How can you even tell them apart? They all look the same."

Eve smiled, but it didn't make her eyes crinkle in the corners like a genuine one would. "They don't, actually. Their shades of green are slightly different. You can notice it if you look closely enough. They also have mildly contrasting facial features."

Marlene snorted. "Only you would notice something like that." Her smile fell slightly when she heard Eve sigh. "Is everything alright?"

Eve brought her hand close to the branch that Karmanor was perched on and let the Bowtruckle climb on. The other Bowtruckles appeared wary of Eve and kept a short distance but didn't attempt to attack her.

"Of course, I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be?" Marlene's eyes narrowed as Eve shifted her feet uncomfortably and didn't quite look at the Slytherin.

"You're a terrible liar." Marlene folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow at her friend.

Eve winced but finally looked at Marlene. "It's not a big deal," she muttered, lightly stroking Karmanor with her forefinger. The Bowtruckle made a soft trilling noise of contentment.

Marlene knew that she couldn't force Eve to talk, but maybe she could make her comfortable enough to want to. She unshouldered her broom and mounted it once more, hovering slightly off the ground. Looking at the Hufflepuff, she patted the space behind her.

Eve played with her ponytail uncertainly. "Er...are you sure that's safe?"

"If it weren't safe, I wouldn't suggest it." Marlene lifted her head, confidently and patted the broom again. "My cousin, Millie, used to do this all the time with me when I was younger."

Eve hesitated, but only for a moment, before sitting on the handle behind Marlene and wrapping her arms around the blonde girl's waist. Once sure that her friend wouldn't fall off, Marlene kicked off from the ground and rose high into the air.

Karamor, who wasn't fond of heights, climbed down from Eve's hand and into the safe confines of her robes. The strong winds from the high altitude whipped their hair about as they flew over the Forbidden Forest, the edges of their feet lightly grazing the tops of the tallest trees. The foliage was so thick that it was almost impossible to see within the forest, but both girls thought they saw a glimpse of a centaur. Or, perhaps it was a unicorn?

Marlene swerved to avoid crashing into a particularly tall tree. The way she maneuvered the broomstick and the confident way she sat upon it were indications that she was a skilled flier. She was more comfortable in the air than on the ground, where she felt more vulnerable. In the sky, it was as if no one and nothing could touch her. She was completely in her element.

She turned back to look at Eve, who appeared thoughtful. Still, Marlene didn't press the matter on what was bothering her friend. She knew that if she forced the issue, Eve would only retreat into a shell.

"I got into a fight with Remus," Eve murmured, finally.

The strong winds blocked out most of Marlene's hearing, but she was just able to make out the words. Her eyes narrowed, and her jaw clenched firmly as she reached into her robes to clutch the hazel handle of her wand.

"What happened?" She listened as Eve relayed what had happened during History of Magic; how Remus had stormed from the classroom under the excuse of needing to go to the Hospital Wing.

"I made the excuse that I needed to use the lavatory and followed him because I was worried about him." Marlene could feel Eve's hands upon her waist trembling as she took a deep breath, but a look upon the Hufflepuff's face didn't reveal tears.

"There's nothing wrong with being worried," Marlene said kindly. "What happened next?" Now that Eve was willing to talk, it was best to get the entire story from her.

"I tried to ask him what was wrong because I wanted to help him. He got angry at me and started yelling that I couldn't fix everything. He said that he didn't want me hovering around him all the time."

Marlene's grip on her wand tightened, and the desire to hex Remus in the worst way was strong. Even though Eve wasn't crying, the distress in her eyes was more than Marlene could bear to see.

"You might be a little nosy, sometimes, Eve, and maybe you should have given him his space, but he also had no right to yell at you like that if you were only trying to help." She gritted her teeth as she spoke, small sparks flying from her wand.

Eve's eyes widened, and she appeared horrified. "Wait, you're not going to do anything to him, are you?"

"Why shouldn't I?" Marlene snapped. "Do you think I care about the childhood history you two have together? No matter what you might have done, there are easier ways to handle stress than yelling at the people who you consider a friend!"

"There are also easier ways to confront someone than jinxing them," Eve pointed out.

Marlene cursed under her breath. Sometimes, she hated when Eve was right. Jinxing him wouldn't make things better, but that didn't mean she still couldn't confront him and make her own threats.

"I won't jinx him, but I'm still going to make it known that I'm royally pissed at him." Eve might not want to approach Remus about his attitude, but Marlene had no problem having a little talk with those who needed it.

* * *

_Present Time..._

Remembering that Eve had mentioned Remus stopping off at the Hospital Wing, she decided to check there first. She found the place mostly empty, save for a third year, who looked like he had attempted to either mix a potion to change his hair colour or used a spell. It appeared to have gone horribly wrong as he now had weeds growing from the top of his head.

"Mr Lupin left the Hospital Wing just twenty minutes ago," Madam Pomfrey said when Marlene asked about him.

Marlene suppressed the urge to sigh. "Did he say where he was going?"

Madam Pomfrey returned to stirring the potion she was making for the third year. The liquid turned a frothy sky blue. "I think he mentioned something about visiting the library. Mr Pennyfeather came in not long after, and I didn't think about Mr Lupin after that. Younger students should know better than to attempt potions well beyond their year."

But Marlene was already heading out the door, not wanting to listen to the matron mutter about spells or potions gone wrong. She should have known that Remus might be in the library. She was sure that if allowed, he'd sleep there. She wouldn't put it past him to have already tried.

When she reached the library, she didn't see Madam Pince in sight but had a feeling that the old hawk was somewhere nearby, ready to pounce on unsuspecting students, who so much as looked at her books wrong. The library was massive, and Remus could be anywhere within. She scanned the section that she was able to see at the moment, but only spotted a small group of first years, who were practising the Softening Charm on their copies of _Standard Book of Spells: Year One. _A fourth year with oversized glasses was levitating a stack of thick volumes. Dust flew up from the books as she dropped them onto the table behind her with a little more force than probably intended.

Marlene walked further into the library, and among the rows of books. She smirked upon seeing two seventh years locked together, their arms so intertwined that it was difficult to tell which belonged to who. As she moved towards the back of the library, she could have sworn she heard the familiar voice of a certain greasy Slytherin talking in a low voice to someone else. She quickly cast a charm to silence her footsteps and moved closer to the source of the noise.

Pressing her back against one of the bookshelves, she peeked around the corner, her right eyebrow arching as she saw Snape holding Remus by the collar of his shirt and speaking in a low, threatening voice.

"I don't think you're in any position to decline. You either join his army, or I tell the entire school your little secret," Snape hissed, spittle flying in the Gryffindor's face.

"You really think I'm afraid of you, Snivellus?" Remus growled. "James saved your life, yet you still despise him!"

"Potter only did it to save his own skin! He and Black only care about having a good laugh! They don't care about who gets hurt!"

"At least they don't go around attacking students just for being Muggle-borns or alleged blood traitors. You know, I feel sorry for you. That bitterness is going to eat at you for the rest of your life until it destroys you."

Snape pushed Remus roughly against the bookshelf, making a few of the books fall onto the floor. "I won't have some freak looking down at me!" He reached for his wand, but Marlene stepped out from behind the bookshelf, unable to take any more of Snape taking his bitterness out on others who didn't deserve it.

"_Ducklifors!" _She pointed her wand at the greasy-haired Slytherin. There was a faint pop, and in place of a slimy snake was a duck, who began quacking angrily. Marlene was sure that he was cursing her something awful.

"If you're going to be quacking all day about how much your life sucks, then you might as well look the part." Marlene smirked, then looked at a very shocked Remus.

"I'm not saying he didn't deserve it, but you know he's probably going to tell on you when he gets the chance."

Marlene flipped her hair off her shoulder and pocketed her wand. "Probably, but I think it's an improvement." Without sparing another glance at Snape, she grabbed Remus by the collar of his shirt and pulled him out of the library.

"Wait, where are we going?" Remus didn't try to resist her, but let himself be pulled out of the library and a little further down the corridor to a classroom that had been unused for as long as Marlene could remember. Once they were inside, Marlene cast a Silencing Charm on the door to prevent any outsiders from listening in.

She then turned to Remus, who was straightening his robes. "What's this all about, Marlene? Why did you drag me in here?"

Marlene twirled her wand around between her fingers. "Let's get one thing straight. I don't care about whatever you might be going through. If you upset my best friend, you're going to answer to me."

Remus looked away, his eyes downcast. "Eve told you, didn't she?"

"She asked me not to jinx you, which is the only reason you haven't been sent to the Hospital Wing, already. I'm sure she'd rather me not talk to you at all, but too bad. You're going to hear what I have to say." Even though she hadn't pointed her wand at him, yet, her hazel eyes flashed dangerously.

"She probably doesn't even want to talk to me anymore."

Marlene rolled her eyes so hard that she was surprised they didn't fall out of her head. "Oh, go ahead and throw a pity party. That's all you're good at, anyways. Eve clearly sees something in you. I don't know what it is, but she enjoys being around you. You're doing nothing, but ruining what friendship the two of you have. So what if Professor Binns said something you didn't like? You don't take out your anger on someone who doesn't deserve it! I don't care what you're going through at the time!"

Remus dug his fingernails tightly into his palms. "You don't know what you're talking about. You've always been perfect. Everything comes so easily for you."

Marlene threw her head back and laughed. "Here I thought you were the cleverest in our year next to Lily. If you think I'm perfect, then you really don't know me. As much as I hate to admit it, we're very similar, you and I. The biggest difference is that I know how to apologise and make things right when I'm wrong. Do you?"

Remus sighed and leaned against one of the dusty desks behind him. "How would I know what to do or say?"

The Slytherin's eyes softened. "You'll have to figure that out for yourself. You've known Eve since the two of you were little kids. You should know what she likes and doesn't like, by now. If not, then you really don't know her."

Marlene watched Remus' expression change from one of uncertainty over the matter, to acceptance of what he had to do. She had to admit, when she first met Remus, he had appeared weak to her; not just physically, but mentally too. She didn't think he would last a month at Hogwarts. Still, him standing up to Snape, despite the fact that the latter knew more dark spells than anyone, was not the first time she had witnessed him doing such a thing against someone more skilled than him. He had often proven that looks can be deceiving when it comes to true courage.

But he still had a long way to go before Marlene would consider him good enough for Eve. "If you have any idea on how to make it up to her, I'll do what I can to help; just as long as I don't have to do anything too embarrassing." Although, Marlene knew that she'd humiliate herself in the worst way just to make Eve happy again.

* * *

After flying around the grounds with Marlene, Eve had visited Hagrid and Buckbeak, doing her best to pretend that nothing was wrong. Telling her best friend about what had happened between her and Remus was one thing, but she was certain the groundskeeper didn't want to hear the woes of a teenage girl. She even braved some of his cooking, which she immediately regretted, upon sampling his stew, which tasted like he had added every hot spice imaginable to it.

From Hagrid's, she had walked back up to the school and all the way to the Owlery to send another letter to her parents to thank her mother for sending her the chocolate and hazelnut squares that she had sent the other day, and to thank her father for the broom handle polish, which she had been running low on.

The scent of feathers and droppings filled her nostrils as she bent over one of the round tables and quickly scribbled a short letter to her parents, while Freya waited patiently on the perch beside her, hooting softly.

Once the letter was written, Eve tapped the parchment with her wand to use a Drying Charm on the ink before rolling it up and tying it to Freya's outstretched foot. The tawny owl nipped her fingers affectionately, then spread her wings and took flight from one of the windows.

The smell was starting to get to her a little, and she turned to leave, only to find herself standing face to face with a grinning Marlene.

"Ah!" She jumped back and hit her best friend lightly on the shoulder. "D-Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Marlene laughed. "You're so easy to scare!" Before Eve could say anything, the Slytherin grabbed her hand and began pulling her down the winding staircase. "You need to come with me."

"Wait—" Eve began to protest, but Marlene just shushed her and pulled her along to the fifth floor.

A few minutes later, they came to a classroom with a plaque just outside the door that said _Muggle Music_. It was one of the extra-curricular subjects taught at Hogwarts; but as they were completely optional, unlike the core subjects and electives, not many students took them. In fact, Eve couldn't remember a time where she had ever stepped foot inside this classroom. She had no musical skills, whatsoever.

The classroom was bigger than Eve had imagined it would be. A faint outline of her reflection could be seen in the polished dark wood flooring. Across the tops and bottoms of the cream-coloured walls were dark wood mouldings, just a shade lighter than the floor. Various portraits of, what Eve assumed to be, famous composers, adorned the walls.

The instruments were divided into sections: woodwind, which consisted of flutes, clarinets, saxophone, oboes, and bassoons; brass: trumpet, french horn, tuba, and trombone; strings: violin, viola, cello, double bass, and harp; and finally, percussion: timpani, xylophone, cymbals, triangle, snare drums, bass drums, tambourines, maracas, gong, chimes, castanets, celesta, and, finally, a large grand piano set in the middle of the room.

It was the piano that caught Eve's attention. Not because of the beauty of it, which was a sight to behold, but because of a certain sixteen-year-old Gryffindor sitting upon the bench.

The sound of the door creaking caused Eve to turn around just in time to see Marlene winking at her before disappearing and closing it with a click.

Eve turned back around to face Remus, shuffling her feet and tugging her grey uniform sweater over her hands. "Er..."

Remus didn't say anything. He only lifted his wand and flicked it towards the various instruments, including the double bass, saxophone, and drums, although Eve couldn't tell if it was the snare or the bass drums. The instruments became enchanted and magically began playing a song that was familiar to Eve, for she had the record at home.

The Gryffindor's fingers began moving softly across the piano keys, and Eve found herself gaping at the fact that he knew how to play. She was sure he had never mentioned to her that he could.

"_Some day, when I'm awfully low."_

Eve's hand immediately covered her mouth, for Remus had started singing one of her favourite songs by Frank Sinatra: The Way You Look Tonight. His voice had a gentle tone, not perfect, but still good enough to do such a beautiful song justice.

"_Yes, you're lovely, with your smile so warm_."

Remus looked up at her, still playing the piano with one hand and singing as he patted the spot on the wooden bench next to him. Without hesitating, Eve crossed the room and sat down. Remus' green eyes gleamed as he began playing with both hands again.

"_With each word, your tenderness grows." _

Eve couldn't stop grinning ear to ear and wanted to sing along; but as she usually sounded like a dying whale each time she attempted it, she avoided to spare Remus' eardrums.

"_And that laugh wrinkles your nose." _Eve giggled as he lightly booped her on the nose. "_Touches my foolish heart."_

While the music still played, Remus spoke. "I'm really sorry for the way I acted towards you. You were only trying to help me. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you. In fact, I should have been thanking you for checking on me—for wanting to make sure I was alright. It was a mistake to push you away."

Eve smiled and leaned forward to lightly press her lips against his cheek. "Keep singing, please?" She had already forgiven him ages ago and thought her actions proved thus.

"_Lovely; never, ever change." _Eve tapped her feet in time to the music, while Remus playfully nudged her, urging her to sing. The Hufflepuff shook her head, her cheeks red and covered her face shyly.

He chuckled. "_Keep that breathless charm."_

The song began to slowly come to a close as Remus sang the last words. "_Just the way you look tonight."_

The instruments stopped playing one by one, until the final sound was the small piano melody at the end.

Eve immediately threw her arms around him, causing Remus to almost fall off of the bench. "H-Hey!" He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. "I guess that means you forgive me then, huh?"

She could only nod as she sniffled. "This is the best gift anyone could have given me. I didn't even know you could play the piano, let alone sing!"

Remus blushed sheepishly and turned away with a faint smile. "After my family and I moved away, I was...going through a lot. My mum used to be a piano teacher before I was born and began teaching me as a way to help me cope. It's something that not even James, Sirius, or Peter even know about. I've never played in front of them. In fact, you're the first person I've played for besides my parents and other members of my family. As for my singing..." He smirked. "I guess all those years of singing into my scrub brush really paid off."

Eve giggled. "Does this mean I'll get a front-row seat to your shower singing next time?" she teased.

Remus laughed. "If that's what you want. I'll even have a chorus of rubber ducks singing back-up."

She tilted her head and frowned thoughtfully. "Is that what their function is?"

Remus stood and offered her his hand, which she took. "Yes, that's what a rubber duck does." His eyes glinted with mirth and Eve soon realised that he was joking and began hitting him over the shoulder as he laughed and ran out of the music room with her chasing him and giggling.


End file.
